Kovack Advisors Inc. Has $2.08 Million Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 20.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,261 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,075 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in PepsiCo by 9,623.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,058,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $519,381,000 after buying an additional 3,026,611 shares during the period. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the third quarter valued at approximately $329,179,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 121.4% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,727,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,586 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,641,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,064 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 68.0% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,922,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,371 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup raised PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.42.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of PepsiCo stock traded down $1.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $175.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,471,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,855,305. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month high of $196.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $169.40 and a 200 day moving average of $167.86. The company has a market capitalization of $241.39 billion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.53. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. Analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $1.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.09%.

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.