Vest Financial LLC Acquires 38,967 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 11.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 377,540 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 38,967 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $56,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tcfg Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Tcfg Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,938 shares of the company's stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. TAGStone Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. TAGStone Capital Inc. now owns 2,527 shares of the company's stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 7,699 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,844 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,271,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 4.9% in the first quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the company's stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on PEP shares. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. CICC Research restated a "market perform" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP traded down $1.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $130.03. 7,619,600 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,594,528. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.75 and a 52 week high of $180.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The company has a market cap of $178.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $136.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $146.25.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm's revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders 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 yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This is a boost from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.