Waverly Advisors LLC Purchases 6,700 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Waverly Advisors LLC grew its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 85,042 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,700 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $12,931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PEP. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $224,000. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,645,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7,527 shares of the company's stock worth $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Successful Portfolios LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Successful Portfolios LLC now owns 4,393 shares of the company's stock worth $668,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 13,324 shares of the company's stock worth $2,026,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on PEP. HSBC reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $163.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. CICC Research reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Dbs Bank lowered shares of PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $129.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,116,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,461,549. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $127.75 and a one year high of $180.91. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $139.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. PepsiCo's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo's payout ratio is 83.68%.

PepsiCo Company 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.