Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Increases Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,421,163 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,105,127 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.61% of PepsiCo worth $1,430,250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 59.4% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 993,567 shares of the company's stock worth $168,747,000 after buying an additional 370,122 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,446 shares of the company's stock worth $4,747,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth about $405,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 13,240 shares of the company's stock worth $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,091,000 after acquiring an additional 3,159 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company's stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP traded up $1.73 during trading on Friday, hitting $179.79. The stock had a trading volume of 4,201,814 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,119,747. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $171.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.01. The firm has a market cap of $247.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $155.83 and a one year high of $196.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. This is an increase from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus lowered PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup upgraded PepsiCo from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $187.42.

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.

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