Community Trust & Investment Co. Boosts Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Community Trust & Investment Co. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,124 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 697 shares during the period. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $871,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Flossbach Von Storch AG raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 67.2% during the first quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 4,560,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $798,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,832,385 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 211.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,343 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in PepsiCo by 125.2% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,740,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $452,003,000 after buying an additional 1,523,631 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in PepsiCo by 429.3% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,454,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,603,000 after buying an additional 1,179,922 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in PepsiCo by 7.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,547,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,234,400,000 after buying an additional 905,468 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, DZ Bank lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $183.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $183.92.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $174.37 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $173.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.23. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $158.03 and a 12 month high of $183.41. The company has a market capitalization of $239.23 billion, a PE ratio of 25.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 57.32%. The company had revenue of $23.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.25 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.94%.

PepsiCo Company 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.