Virtu Financial LLC Purchases Shares of 9,472 PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 9,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,611,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PEP. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 59.0% in the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 141.3% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 181 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic raised PepsiCo to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $179.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $183.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $184.31.

PepsiCo Trading Up 1.4 %

PEP stock opened at $158.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.85 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The company has a market cap of $218.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.44, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day moving average of $166.14 and a 200-day moving average of $169.20.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 57.32%. The company had revenue of $23.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.25 EPS. PepsiCo’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.94%.

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.