Advisor Resource Council Buys New Shares in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Advisor Resource Council bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $819,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,729,565,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 4,564,723 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in PepsiCo by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in PepsiCo by 106.1% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,514,965 shares of the company's stock valued at $527,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809,391 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $129.07 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $133.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $143.95. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.75 and a 1 year high of $180.91. The company has a market capitalization of $176.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.83.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (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 return on equity of 58.28% and a net margin of 10.24%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.41%. 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PEP. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $163.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $160.69.

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.

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