Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Cuts Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd cut its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 210,905 shares of the company’s stock after selling 41,272 shares during the period. PepsiCo comprises approximately 0.8% of Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $34,785,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth $2,686,139,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,520,909,000 after buying an additional 1,345,065 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 5,121,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $869,869,000 after buying an additional 693,873 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,755,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $807,741,000 after buying an additional 135,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch AG raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 67.2% during the 1st quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 4,560,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $798,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,832,385 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on PepsiCo from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $177.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.53.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of PEP opened at $177.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $243.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.43. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.83 and a 1 year high of $183.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The business had revenue of $22.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.66%.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo, Inc engages in the manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of various beverages and convenient foods worldwide. The company operates through seven segments: Frito-Lay North America; Quaker Foods North America; PepsiCo Beverages North America; Latin America; Europe; Africa, Middle East and South Asia; and Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand and China Region.