Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. Grows Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 35.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,385 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,407 shares during the period. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $807,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $224,000. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 59,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,031,000 after purchasing an additional 6,574 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,268,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $162,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $883,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on PEP. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Dbs Bank cut shares of PepsiCo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $163.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PepsiCo stock opened at $131.83 on Wednesday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.75 and a twelve month high of $180.91. The company has a market capitalization of $180.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $135.37 and its 200 day moving average is $145.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 83.68%.

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.