Zhang Financial LLC Has $3.19 Million Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Zhang Financial LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,804 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,211 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $3,194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HTLF Bank acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at $3,372,000. Lafayette Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 39,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,669,000 after buying an additional 3,553 shares during the last quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,158,000 after buying an additional 1,780 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 2,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,549,000 after buying an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP traded up $1.08 on Friday, hitting $173.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,119,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,687,674. The company has a market capitalization of $238.27 billion, a PE ratio of 26.36, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.68. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.83 and a fifty-two week high of $196.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $168.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.42.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $27.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.40 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.03% and a net margin of 9.92%. PepsiCo’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $1.265 per share. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 77.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup upgraded PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.92.

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.