PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Bought by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 10.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,335,418 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 321,317 shares during the period. PepsiCo comprises about 1.8% of Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned about 0.24% of PepsiCo worth $500,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PEP. Rovin Capital UT ADV raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 3,121 shares of the company's stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 103.1% in the first quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 4,601 shares of the company's stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 2,336 shares during the last quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 13.2% in the first quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 6,870 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,030,000 after acquiring an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 952.8% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 111,732 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,753,000 after acquiring an additional 101,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alta Advisers Ltd increased its position in PepsiCo by 55.6% during the 1st quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 6,997 shares of the company's stock worth $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company's stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock traded up $1.22 on Wednesday, hitting $136.48. 9,386,258 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,040,285. The company's fifty day moving average is $131.47 and its 200 day moving average is $142.58. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $180.91. The company has a market capitalization of $187.12 billion, a PE ratio of 20.07, a PEG ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $1.4225 dividend. This is an increase from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo's payout ratio is presently 83.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on PEP shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Citigroup cut 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. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a 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 assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.