Optimist Retirement Group LLC Buys Shares of 14,579 PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Optimist Retirement Group LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 14,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,186,000. PepsiCo comprises about 1.1% of Optimist Retirement Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 630,906 shares of the company's stock worth $94,598,000 after buying an additional 21,859 shares in the last quarter. Ossiam grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. Ossiam now owns 73,604 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,192,000 after purchasing an additional 42,793 shares during the period. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. bought a new position in PepsiCo during the first quarter valued at $3,633,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 124,797 shares of the company's stock worth $18,977,000 after buying an additional 13,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.3% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 270,938 shares of the company's stock worth $40,624,000 after buying an additional 6,112 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $135.00 to $132.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $153.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $157.93.

PepsiCo Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $143.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The stock has a market cap of $196.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.45. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $180.91. The business's 50 day moving average is $132.23 and its 200-day moving average is $141.11.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $22.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.28 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.81% and a net margin of 8.23%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. This is an increase from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is 103.64%.

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.

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