PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Holdings Raised by Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 56.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 182,836 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 66,226 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $27,414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in PepsiCo by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 135,174,252 shares of the company's stock worth $20,268,027,000 after buying an additional 1,802,748 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 26,475,241 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,969,698,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258,198 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,306,818 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,062,857 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,108,585,000 after purchasing an additional 49,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,048,646 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,832,116,000 after purchasing an additional 831,148 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PEP. Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. 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, July 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $160.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $158.73.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $148.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $136.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.63. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $179.73. The firm has a market cap of $203.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.45.

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

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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