Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC Raises Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC boosted its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 223.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,525 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,327 shares during the period. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $3,977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company's stock worth $20,280,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,133 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company's stock worth $4,717,069,000 after buying an additional 582,254 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted 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 worth $3,834,504,000 after buying an additional 3,856,193 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,729,565,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,403,395 shares of the company's stock worth $2,494,300,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306,818 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Dbs Bank downgraded PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of 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, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $159.75.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.2%

PEP opened at $128.22 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $180.91. 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 50-day simple moving average of $132.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.22. The company has a market capitalization of $175.80 billion, a PE ratio of 18.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.45.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last released 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). The company had revenue of $17.92 billion for 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 business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. Analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.44%. 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.

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