Stocks in the News: PepsiCo, Phillips-Van Heusen, Bank of America

The following is a round-up of news likely to affect stock prices today:

PepsiCo (PEP) said Monday it would raise its annual dividend rate by 7% to a rate of $1.80 to $1.92 a share and repurchase up to $15 billion of its stock.

Phillips-Van Heusen (PVH) is acquiring Tommy Hilfiger from Apax Partners, the New York private-equity firm, for about $3 billion.

Bank of America (BAC) plans to seek approval to expand its operations in China, the Wall Street Journal reported.

T Rowe Price (TROW) is in advanced talks to buy a stake in China's biggest asset manager from Citic Securities, Reuters reported, citing two sources.

Deutsche Telekom AG (DT) on Monday said it will be the first on Germany's DAX-30 to introduce a quota for female managers, with a target to fill 30% of upper and middle management jobs with women by the end of 2015, up from 13% in 2008.

Apple's (AAPL) COO Timothy Cook, who took over CEO Steve Jobs's duties when he was on medical leave, received on Friday a one-time bonus of $5 million and 75,000 in restricted shares worth about $17 million for that time.

Google (GOOG) appears increasingly likely to close its Chinese-language search engine, a step that would remove one of the last major foreign players from the world's most populous and fastest-growing Internet market, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN), Eli Lilly (LLY) and Alkermes (ALKS) -- the FDA wants to clarify the product labeling and do more risk evaluation on the new drug application for Bydureon, a once-weekly Type 2 diabetes drug.

UBS's (UBS) top management Monday said it was confident of turning around its business to achieve its medium-term profit target following a solid start to 2010. At the same time, its executive board received around 110 million Swiss francs ($104 million) in pay and bonuses for 2009 -- an almost ten-fold increase from a year earlier, despite reporting more losses.

Exxon Mobil (XOM) said that arrangements are complete for its Esso Highlands Ltd. unit to begin construction of a liquefied natural gas project in Papua New Guinea. Exxon Mobil estimates the initial investment for the project to be $15 billion.

Medtronic (MDT) -- an FDA panel recommended approval of Medtronic's electronic device implanted in the brain for the treatment of epilepsy.

BT (BT) and Walmart (WMT) were upgraded to buy from hold at Citi.