Farther Finance Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 35.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,147 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,187 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $5,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in PepsiCo by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,280,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,133 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,717,069,000 after purchasing an additional 582,254 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after buying an additional 3,856,193 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,729,565,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,403,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,494,300,000 after buying an additional 1,306,818 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.1%

PepsiCo stock opened at $129.96 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $135.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The firm has a market cap of $178.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.75 and a twelve month high of $180.91.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PEP shares. Dbs Bank cut PepsiCo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays cut their target price on PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.69.

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.