Riverbend Wealth Management LLC Takes $544,000 Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Riverbend Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $544,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 9.2% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 99,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,968,000 after buying an additional 8,406 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 104.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,350,000 after purchasing an additional 870,451 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,323,000 after buying an additional 4,712 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 350,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,549,000 after buying an additional 34,633 shares during the period. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,220 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of PEP opened at $156.25 on Tuesday. 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. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $160.62. The firm has a market cap of $214.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52.

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

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PEP shares. StockNews.com cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. BNP Paribas reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 target price on the stock. Finally, CICC Research reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.35.

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.