CGN Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

CGN Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 7.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,969 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares during the period. CGN Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $3,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Security Financial Services INC. lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.6% during the first quarter. Security Financial Services INC. now owns 3,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PEP shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.15.

PepsiCo Price Performance

NASDAQ PEP opened at $168.10 on Tuesday. 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 $231.10 billion, a PE ratio of 25.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $173.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.36. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.83 and a 12-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, beating 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 net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.50%.

Insider Activity at PepsiCo

In other news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

About PepsiCo

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.