Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Purchases 24,472 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 882,137 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,472 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $149,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mechanics Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 13,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,299,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 60.6% during the fourth quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 20,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,413,000 after acquiring an additional 7,600 shares in the last quarter. Rogco LP increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. Rogco LP now owns 11,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,037,000 after acquiring an additional 2,364 shares in the last quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,600,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 41,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,126,000 after buying an additional 6,579 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $175.83. 1,413,162 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,737,319. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.83 and a 12-month 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. The company has a market cap of $241.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $169.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.21.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup upgraded PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.42.

PepsiCo Company 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.