Griffith & Werner Inc. Invests $725,000 in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Griffith & Werner Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 4,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $725,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in PepsiCo by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company's stock worth $20,280,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,133 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,717,069,000 after buying an additional 582,254 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in PepsiCo by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after buying an additional 3,856,193 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth about $2,729,565,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in PepsiCo by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,403,395 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,494,300,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306,818 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company's stock.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of PEP stock opened at $129.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $177.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.61, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $139.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.42. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.75 and a twelve month high of $180.91.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last issued 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). PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. PepsiCo's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $1.4225 per share. This is a boost from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is presently 83.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. HSBC reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, April 24th. CICC Research reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $160.69.

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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