Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,990 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,458 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $7,346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Davis Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo during the first quarter valued at approximately $691,000. Net Worth Advisory Group boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 11.5% during the first quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 10,318 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,547,000 after buying an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. apricus wealth LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 2.6% during the first quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 3,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 41.8% during the first quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 8,512 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,276,000 after buying an additional 2,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coerente Capital Management boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 0.5% during the first quarter. Coerente Capital Management now owns 133,266 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,982,000 after buying an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PEP shares. Bank of America dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $163.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Dbs Bank downgraded PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Up 1.8%

NASDAQ PEP traded up $2.40 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $132.30. 11,432,993 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,648,128. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $181.39 billion, a PE ratio of 19.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $135.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.63. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.75 and a 52 week high of $180.91.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $1.4225 dividend. This is a positive change from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.30%. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.