Value Partners Investments Inc. Takes $3.83 Million Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Value Partners Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 25,510 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,829,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 59,392 shares of the company's stock worth $9,031,000 after buying an additional 6,574 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 470,387 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,527,000 after purchasing an additional 11,538 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,830 shares of the company's stock valued at $887,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 5,910 shares of the company's stock valued at $899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 21,854 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,354,000 after purchasing an additional 5,750 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PEP shares. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Dbs Bank downgraded PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $159.75.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ PEP traded up $2.82 on Friday, hitting $131.04. 26,530,795 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,977,393. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $132.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $143.22. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $180.91. The firm has a market cap of $179.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G 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 (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.28% and a net margin of 10.24%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%. This is a boost from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.