Diligent Investors LLC Increases Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Diligent Investors LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,649 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the quarter. Diligent Investors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,376,133 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 582,254 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $3,834,504,000 after acquiring an additional 3,856,193 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,729,565,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,306,818 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PEP. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $163.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $131.74 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $146.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.75 and a 12-month high of $180.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $1.4225 dividend. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.68%.

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.