Principal Securities Inc. Raises Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 333.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 103,004 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 79,216 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.'s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $15,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. TAGStone Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. TAGStone Capital Inc. now owns 2,527 shares of the company's stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 7,699 shares of the company's stock worth $1,171,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the company's stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 275 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pflug Koory LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 7,750 shares of the company's stock worth $1,162,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $159.75.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ PEP traded up $1.74 during trading on Thursday, reaching $136.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,440,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,067,477. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $186.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.02, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.45. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $180.91. The business's fifty day moving average price is $131.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.88.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were 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 yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. 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.