Cerity Partners LLC Buys 66,336 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 962,264 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 66,336 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC owned 0.07% of PepsiCo worth $144,267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Code Waechter LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 3,156 shares of the company's stock worth $473,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the period. Telos Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 133,786 shares of the company's stock worth $20,060,000 after acquiring an additional 6,880 shares during the period. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 1st quarter worth approximately $90,000. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 43,657 shares of the company's stock worth $6,546,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 74,002 shares of the company's stock worth $11,096,000 after acquiring an additional 7,218 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP traded down $0.82 on Friday, reaching $135.26. The stock had a trading volume of 7,958,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,078,854. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13. The company has a market capitalization of $185.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.45. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $180.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $131.49 and a 200-day moving average of $141.58.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 58.28%. PepsiCo's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.61 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This is an increase from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.21%. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $150.00 to $139.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Dbs Bank cut PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $158.19.

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.