Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Has $7.91 Million Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 38.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,183 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,598 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $7,908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its position in PepsiCo by 80.5% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the first quarter valued at $35,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 53,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.4 %

PepsiCo stock traded up $0.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $163.32. 670,439 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,445,051. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.83 and a 52-week high of $192.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $224.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $172.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The business 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 company earned $1.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 81.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PEP. Argus downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.64.

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.