Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC Buys 34,936 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 2,017.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 36,668 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 34,936 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo accounts for about 1.5% of Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $5,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. TAGStone Capital Inc. raised its position in PepsiCo by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. TAGStone Capital Inc. now owns 2,527 shares of the company's stock worth $388,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 7,699 shares of the company's stock worth $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 4.9% during the first quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the company's stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 275 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pflug Koory LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 1.0% during the first quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 7,750 shares of the company's stock worth $1,162,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on PEP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $139.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $158.50.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock traded up $1.60 on Thursday, hitting $136.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,864,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,086,428. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock's 50 day moving average is $131.46 and its 200-day moving average is $141.78. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $180.91. The company has a market capitalization of $186.58 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.45.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.28% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.61 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.18%. This is an increase from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.