Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. Purchases 154 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,509 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 9.2% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 99,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,968,000 after purchasing an additional 8,406 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in PepsiCo by 104.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,350,000 after purchasing an additional 870,451 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 350,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,549,000 after acquiring an additional 34,633 shares during the period. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,323,000 after acquiring an additional 4,712 shares during the period. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,220 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $150.27 on Tuesday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $141.51 and a one year high of $183.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $153.12 and its 200 day moving average is $164.85. The firm has a market cap of $206.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.54.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 79.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Redburn Atlantic raised PepsiCo to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $158.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $176.73.

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.