Cambridge Trust Co. Boosts Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Cambridge Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP – Get Rating) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,186 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,481 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $6,538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in PepsiCo by 34.0% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,128,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,812,000 after buying an additional 286,169 shares during the last quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in PepsiCo by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,783,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in PepsiCo by 29.3% in the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 5,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $931,000 after buying an additional 1,262 shares during the last quarter. Wsfs Capital Management LLC lifted its position in PepsiCo by 117.2% in the 1st quarter. Wsfs Capital Management LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,000 after buying an additional 1,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. lifted its position in PepsiCo by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 26,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,504,000 after buying an additional 2,116 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Argus boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $206.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 6th. Credit Suisse Group boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 10th. Barclays lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $197.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $198.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $184.08.

Insider Transactions at PepsiCo

In other news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 16,827 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.70, for a total value of $2,906,022.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,462,300. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 16,827 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.70, for a total value of $2,906,022.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,462,300. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Pohlad sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.47, for a total transaction of $12,935,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 183,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,722,234.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $175.13 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $173.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.78. The company has a market cap of $241.20 billion, a PE ratio of 27.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.53. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $154.86 and a 52-week high of $186.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.80.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 9th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.03. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 51.34%. The business had revenue of $28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 7.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 3rd will be paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 2nd. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.76%.

About PepsiCo

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PepsiCo, Inc engages in the manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of beverages, food, and snacks. It operates through the following business segments: Frito-Lay North America (FLNA), Quaker Foods North America (QFNA), PepsiCo Beverages North America (PBNA), Latin America (LatAm), Europe, Africa, Middle East, and South Asia (AMESA), and Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand, and China Region (APAC).