PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Bought by Ellsworth Advisors LLC

Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,968 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,033,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the third quarter worth $25,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the third quarter worth $27,000. West Tower Group LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the second quarter worth $36,000. VitalStone Financial LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the second quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Pacific Center for Financial Services purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the first quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $179.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $176.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.77.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of PEP stock traded up $1.44 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $175.01. The company had a trading volume of 5,710,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,942,093. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.85. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $196.88. The company has a market capitalization of $240.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.99.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.03% and a net margin of 9.92%. The business had revenue of $27.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st will be issued a $1.265 dividend. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.02%.

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.