Merit Financial Group LLC Has $17.11 Million Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 121,795 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,451 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $17,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the second quarter valued at about $2,330,594,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 14,420.2% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,890,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $513,726,000 after acquiring an additional 3,863,893 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $460,110,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,031,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,833,406,000 after purchasing an additional 2,556,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 19.5% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,577,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,056,797,000 after purchasing an additional 2,541,455 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of PEP opened at $144.16 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $197.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.41, a PEG ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 0.42. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $160.15. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $23.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.91 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.58% and a net margin of 7.82%.The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 108.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on PEP. DZ Bank upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $167.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Loop Capital set a $164.00 price objective on PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $158.75.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ: PEP) is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.