Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 8,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,237,000. PepsiCo comprises 1.1% of Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,280,471,000 after buying an additional 1,376,133 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,717,069,000 after buying an additional 582,254 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% during the 4th 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 acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,729,565,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 8.7% during the 4th 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 institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $131.68 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.46. 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 firm has a market cap of $180.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $130.06 and a one year high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. On average, analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 83.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America reduced 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. HSBC reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.69.

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.