PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP Shares Purchased by Vise Technologies Inc.

Vise Technologies Inc. increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 52.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 66,265 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 22,754 shares during the quarter. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $9,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in PepsiCo by 3.6% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 554,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,916,000 after purchasing an additional 19,218 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its position in PepsiCo by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 415,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,600,000 after purchasing an additional 42,335 shares during the period. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. raised its position in PepsiCo by 622.3% in the fourth quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. now owns 35,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,110,000 after purchasing an additional 30,674 shares during the period. Allstate Corp raised its position in PepsiCo by 108.1% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 104,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,030,000 after purchasing an additional 54,405 shares during the period. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 65.8% in the third quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 577,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,049,000 after purchasing an additional 229,121 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on PEP. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $154.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Argus raised PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on PepsiCo from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.11.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.3%

PEP opened at $142.15 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $171.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $152.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.58.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.The firm had revenue of $19.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.48 EPS. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 92.94%.

PepsiCo Profile

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.