Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 11,426 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 5.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 225,334 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,426 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $33,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PEP. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the subject of several research reports. Dbs Bank downgraded PepsiCo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group cut their price target on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $159.75.

PepsiCo Stock Down 2.3%

PEP stock opened at $128.02 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $175.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.44. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.63 and a 52 week high of $180.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 58.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 83.68%.

About PepsiCo

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.