Ariston Services Group Acquires New Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Ariston Services Group bought a new position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 93.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PEP shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. CICC Research reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP stock opened at $155.99 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $213.94 billion, a PE ratio of 22.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $148.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $161.33. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.51 and a 52-week high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. Analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.99%.

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.