Atwood & Palmer Inc. Grows Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Atwood & Palmer Inc. raised its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,593 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $2,686,139,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 9,623.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,058,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $519,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,026,611 shares in the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,641,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470,064 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,520,909,000 after buying an additional 1,345,065 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP stock opened at $167.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $173.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.32. The firm has a market cap of $229.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.15, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.83 and a 1 year high of $192.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Argus downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.17.

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.