Signature Wealth Management Group Takes $3.62 Million Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Signature Wealth Management Group acquired a new position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 24,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,624,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 59,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,031,000 after acquiring an additional 6,574 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at $9,268,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 13,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,060,000 after acquiring an additional 2,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in PepsiCo by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 470,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,527,000 after purchasing an additional 11,538 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $163.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of PEP opened at $130.85 on Monday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.75 and a fifty-two week high of $180.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $134.63 and a 200 day moving average of $144.96. The firm has a market cap of $179.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.35%. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.68%.

PepsiCo 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.