Northwest Bank & Trust Co Makes New $78,000 Investment in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Northwest Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $411,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Counsel Inc lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 4,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $699,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PEP. Argus lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.17.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $163.81. 3,603,340 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,978,118. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $192.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 81.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PepsiCo news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of PepsiCo stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total value of $1,000,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

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.