Advisory Alpha LLC Purchases 381 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Advisory Alpha LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 5.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,914 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its stake in PepsiCo by 80.5% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 77.5% in the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at PepsiCo

In other news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of PepsiCo stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total value of $1,000,360.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. BNP Paribas began coverage on PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.00.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP traded up $2.56 during trading on Friday, hitting $166.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,118,415 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,491,164. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $192.38. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $171.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued 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 return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The company had revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 81.50%.

PepsiCo Company Profile

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.