Ames National Corp Purchases New Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Ames National Corp bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 4,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $672,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in PepsiCo by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company's stock worth $20,280,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,133 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company's stock worth $4,717,069,000 after purchasing an additional 582,254 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company's stock worth $3,834,504,000 after buying an additional 3,856,193 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $2,729,565,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,403,395 shares of the company's stock worth $2,494,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,818 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. BNP Paribas dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.0%

PEP stock opened at $131.80 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $180.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $140.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $149.07. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.87 and a 12 month high of $182.13. 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 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). PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The business had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. PepsiCo's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.68%.

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.

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