PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Purchased by WestEnd Advisors LLC

WestEnd Advisors LLC boosted its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 22.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 238,972 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 43,691 shares during the quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $35,831,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,280,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,133 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,717,069,000 after acquiring an additional 582,254 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after acquiring an additional 3,856,193 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $2,729,565,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,403,395 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,494,300,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306,818 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company's stock.

PepsiCo Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $131.04 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13. The firm has a market cap of $179.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.45. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $180.91. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $131.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.93.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 58.28%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $1.4225 dividend. This is a positive change from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo's payout ratio is currently 83.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $159.75.

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.

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