Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC Grows Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC grew its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,811 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 418 shares during the quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 68,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,385,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,100,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,231,811,000 after buying an additional 246,553 shares during the period. Maripau Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at $245,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $14,374,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $153.47 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $148.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.08, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.51 and a 1-year high of $183.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PEP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. CICC Research reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 7th. HSBC lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.47.

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.