Bard Financial Services Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Bard Financial Services Inc. grew its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,871 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo accounts for approximately 1.4% of Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $11,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in PepsiCo by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,280,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,133 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in PepsiCo by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,717,069,000 after purchasing an additional 582,254 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in PepsiCo by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth about $2,729,565,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in PepsiCo by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,403,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,494,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,818 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on PEP. Bank of America lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Dbs Bank cut PepsiCo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PepsiCo stock opened at $131.83 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $135.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $145.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.75 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $127.75 and a one year high of $180.91.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.68%.

PepsiCo 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.