Austin Private Wealth LLC Buys 113 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Austin Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,459 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $588,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PEP. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 95,514.1% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,876,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,746,023,000 after purchasing an additional 42,831,405 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,519,707,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in PepsiCo by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 26,720,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,827,240,000 after acquiring an additional 4,629,947 shares during the period. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in PepsiCo in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $360,472,000. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $329,179,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, February 12th. 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. Barclays increased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $179.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.77.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP stock traded up $1.44 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $175.01. The stock had a trading volume of 5,710,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,942,093. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month high of $196.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $240.55 billion, a PE ratio of 26.64, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 58.03%. The company had revenue of $27.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.67 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $1.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 77.02%.

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.