Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Buys 284,706 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Key Points

• Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its PepsiCo stake by 409.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 284,706 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 354,280 shares worth about $50.8 million.
• PepsiCo posted solid quarterly results, reporting EPS of $1.61 versus estimates of $1.55 and revenue of $19.44 billion versus expectations of $18.89 billion. Revenue rose 8.5% year over year.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $1.48 per share, or $5.92 annualized, yielding about 4.0%, and also has an active $10 billion share buyback authorization in place.

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 409.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 354,280 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 284,706 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $50,845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PEP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company's stock worth $19,875,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612,652 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,499,819 shares of the company's stock worth $8,356,155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079,970 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,617,747 shares of the company's stock worth $1,912,476,000 after purchasing an additional 958,701 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,902,664 shares of the company's stock worth $1,250,290,000 after purchasing an additional 118,286 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company's stock worth $1,207,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995,362 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Argus upgraded shares of PepsiCo to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $170.11.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $148.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $203.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.38. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $154.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.47.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 56.61%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. This is a boost from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.32%.

PepsiCo declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

PepsiCo News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo and Varun Beverages extended their exclusive bottling agreement in India through 2049, giving PepsiCo greater distribution stability and more flexibility to grow in a key international market.
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo announced new growth initiatives in Asia-Pacific and a regenerated agriculture partnership with LDC, both of which support the company’s sustainability efforts and supply-chain resilience.
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo continues to push product innovation, including a new functional ready-to-drink tea, which may help offset slowing demand in some core snack categories.
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo India plans to invest about Rs 5,700 crore by 2030 to expand capacity, a sign of confidence in demand but also a longer-term capital commitment.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary and recent features suggest PepsiCo still has a credible growth story thanks to pricing power, distribution scale, and expansion into better-for-you products, but these articles do not point to a near-term earnings surprise.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that PepsiCo is raising prices on smaller chip bags highlight rising costs in the business and could increase consumer pushback, potentially pressuring volume growth.
• Negative Sentiment: Cost inflation remains a concern, and the need for selective price increases suggests PepsiCo is still facing margin pressure in its U.S. snack business.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo, Inc NASDAQ: PEP is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay's, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.

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