Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Acquires 24,445 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 7.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 332,179 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 24,445 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.'s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $49,807,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ossiam boosted its position in PepsiCo by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. Ossiam now owns 73,604 shares of the company's stock worth $11,192,000 after purchasing an additional 42,793 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 124,797 shares of the company's stock worth $18,977,000 after buying an additional 13,461 shares during the period. Hutner Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,783 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,178,000 after acquiring an additional 6,865 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,899,000. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 39.2% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 17,125 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,604,000 after acquiring an additional 4,825 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PEP shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $163.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $129.07 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.75 and a 12-month high of $180.91. The company has a market capitalization of $176.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $133.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last posted its 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). PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 58.28%. The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. The business's revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This is a boost from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo's payout ratio is 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.

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