Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Has $8.05 Million Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. raised its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 11.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 53,689 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 5,397 shares during the quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.'s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $8,050,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,280,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,133 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 582,254 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $2,729,565,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,306,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in PepsiCo by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,748,403 shares of the company's stock worth $2,090,582,000 after acquiring an additional 727,087 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Dbs Bank cut shares of PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $159.75.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:PEP traded down $0.91 on Friday, hitting $135.58. 4,941,378 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,048,532. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $180.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $131.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $142.26. The company has a market cap of $185.88 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.45.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 58.28%. The company's revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $1.4225 dividend. This is a boost from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.20%. PepsiCo's payout ratio 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.