Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Has $48.52 Million Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Key Points

• Cambridge Investment Research Advisors increased its PepsiCo stake by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 338,098 shares worth about $48.5 million.
• Several large institutional investors also boosted positions in PepsiCo, and institutions now own 73.07% of the company’s stock.
• PepsiCo reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, raised its dividend to $1.48 per share, and authorized a $10 billion share repurchase program.

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 338,098 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 11,088 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.'s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $48,524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on PepsiCo from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on PepsiCo from $154.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $170.37.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP opened at $149.12 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $203.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.38. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week 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 business's fifty day moving average is $155.25 and its 200-day moving average is $152.41.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

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

PepsiCo announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

PepsiCo Profile

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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