LifeSteps Financial Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

LifeSteps Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP – Get Rating) by 18.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,409 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 379 shares during the quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Fortis Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Leverty Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its position in PepsiCo by 229.6% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 323 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth about $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.12% of the company’s stock.

PEP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Credit Suisse Group boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $163.00 to $168.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 27th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $194.00 to $198.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 27th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $188.00 to $193.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $186.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.13.

In other news, EVP David Flavell sold 5,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total value of $901,816.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,275 shares in the company, valued at $4,951,235.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Eugene Willemsen sold 4,560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.61, for a total value of $800,781.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 8,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,453,523.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $162.03 on Thursday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.61 and a 12 month high of $177.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $166.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The firm has a market cap of $224.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.59.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 26th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.05. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 53.44% and a net margin of 12.57%. The company had revenue of $16.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 3rd will be given a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 2nd. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 62.93%.

PepsiCo Company Profile (Get Rating)

PepsiCo, Inc manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells 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.

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