Asio Capital LLC Increases Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Asio Capital LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 13.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,388 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,965 shares during the period. Asio Capital LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $4,472,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PEP. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in PepsiCo by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,001,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,227,287,000 after buying an additional 578,083 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,686,139,000. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in PepsiCo by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,641,389,000 after buying an additional 1,470,064 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in PepsiCo by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,520,909,000 after buying an additional 1,345,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,421,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,430,250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,127 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at PepsiCo

In related news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the firm’s 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 $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $164.93 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $173.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.30. The firm has a market cap of $226.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.80, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.83 and a 1 year high of $192.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.86.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 81.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PEP. Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped 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. BNP Paribas began coverage on PepsiCo in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.38.

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.