Lafayette Investments Inc. Boosts Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Lafayette Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 8.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,805 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,638 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo comprises approximately 1.5% of Lafayette Investments Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Lafayette Investments Inc.'s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $7,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at $2,729,565,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 19,106.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,588,614 shares of the company's stock valued at $688,017,000 after buying an additional 4,564,723 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 18.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,856,193 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 106.1% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,514,965 shares of the company's stock worth $527,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809,391 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PEP shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Dbs Bank cut PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $159.75.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ PEP traded up $1.00 on Monday, reaching $132.04. 11,386,861 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,987,926. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $180.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.46. The business's fifty day moving average price is $131.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 58.28%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. Analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This is a boost from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.31%. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.68%.

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.