Spire Wealth Management Purchases 13,979 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 73.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,963 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 13,979 shares during the quarter. Spire Wealth Management's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $4,942,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ossiam increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. Ossiam now owns 73,604 shares of the company's stock worth $11,192,000 after acquiring an additional 42,793 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 124,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,977,000 after buying an additional 13,461 shares during the last quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,783 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,178,000 after acquiring an additional 6,865 shares in the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,899,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in PepsiCo by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 630,906 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,598,000 after purchasing an additional 21,859 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.2%

PEP stock traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $128.22. The stock had a trading volume of 11,519,153 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,888,552. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.63 and a twelve month high of $180.91. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.44. 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 $175.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.45.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last released 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 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 company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.44%. This is a boost from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is presently 83.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Dbs Bank cut PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of 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 research report on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company 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 research note on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $159.75.

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.