Ghe LLC Buys 142 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Ghe LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,024 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. PepsiCo accounts for about 1.1% of Ghe LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Ghe LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,872,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 5.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,423,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,121,736,000 after purchasing an additional 920,032 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 3.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,878,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,859,812,000 after purchasing an additional 595,357 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,641,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,064 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,316,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,239,629,000 after acquiring an additional 608,321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,774,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,147,922,000 after acquiring an additional 142,243 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price target on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup upgraded PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Six research 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 $187.33.

PepsiCo Stock Up 3.6 %

PepsiCo stock traded up $6.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $177.41. The stock had a trading volume of 10,011,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,852,656. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month high of $196.88. The company has a market capitalization of $243.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.00, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $169.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.70. 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 (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.03% and a net margin of 9.92%. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $1.265 dividend. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 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.