Principal Securities Inc. Purchases 79,216 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 333.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm 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.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PEP shares. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $139.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $158.50.

PepsiCo Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP traded up $1.60 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $136.08. The company had a trading volume of 8,864,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,086,428. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $131.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.78. The company has a market capitalization of $186.58 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 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, Inc. has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $180.91.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo's payout ratio is 83.68%.

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.