Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Invests $408,000 in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,718 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $408,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,729,565,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 19,106.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,588,614 shares of the company's stock worth $688,017,000 after purchasing an additional 4,564,723 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth approximately $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after buying an additional 3,856,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth $221,297,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Dbs Bank cut PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $160.69.

PepsiCo Trading Up 1.8%

PEP stock traded up $2.40 during trading on Thursday, hitting $132.30. The company had a trading volume of 11,432,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,648,128. The business has a 50-day moving average of $135.04 and a 200-day moving average of $145.63. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $127.75 and a one year high of $180.91. The stock has a market cap of $181.39 billion, a PE ratio of 19.04, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. Research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.30%. This is an increase from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.68%.

PepsiCo 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.