Trinity Financial Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Trinity Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 34.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,523 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 898 shares during the period. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,280,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,133 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.9% in 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. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 3,856,193 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,729,565,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in PepsiCo by 8.7% in the fourth 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on PEP. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $163.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. 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 note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Up 1.4%

PEP opened at $131.83 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap 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 50-day moving average price of $135.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.74. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.75 and a twelve month high of $180.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.61 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side 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. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.