Intech Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 69,731 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,394 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $11,843,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its position in PepsiCo by 80.5% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Avion Wealth lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 61.7% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP traded down $1.28 on Friday, reaching $177.99. The company had a trading volume of 3,447,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,948,433. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.16. The company has a market cap of $244.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.86. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.83 and a 52-week high of $192.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.17 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PepsiCo

In other PepsiCo news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup raised shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.58.

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.