WCG Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 8,220 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

WCG Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 51.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,266 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,220 shares during the period. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $3,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,875,205,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612,652 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,499,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,356,155,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079,970 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,617,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,814,835,000 after purchasing an additional 360,936 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,018,813,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 7.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,617,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,912,476,000 after purchasing an additional 958,701 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $142.15 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $152.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $152.58. The stock has a market cap of $194.29 billion, a PE ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.35.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 56.61%. The business had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.48 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $169.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Evercore upped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $170.00 in a report on Friday, April 17th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.11.

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.