Bleakley Financial Group LLC Acquires 4,973 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 14.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,244 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,973 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $5,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 59,392 shares of the company's stock worth $9,031,000 after buying an additional 6,574 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 470,387 shares of the company's stock worth $71,527,000 after buying an additional 11,538 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,449 shares of the company's stock worth $677,000 after buying an additional 824 shares during the last quarter. Choate Investment Advisors lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 142,176 shares of the company's stock worth $21,617,000 after buying an additional 2,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, one8zero8 LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth $7,601,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Dbs Bank cut shares of PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $139.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $158.00.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP stock traded down $1.76 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $133.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,926,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,101,981. The firm's 50-day moving average is $131.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.83. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $180.91. The company has a market cap of $183.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.68, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.45.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.28% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.61 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.25%. This is a positive change from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio 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.