Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Purchases 212 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,402 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 80.5% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Avion Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 61.7% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.92.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP traded down $3.78 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $172.68. 5,285,508 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,749,091. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $155.83 and a one year high of $196.88. The stock has a market cap of $237.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.21, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $168.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $167.55.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.03% and a net margin of 9.92%. The company had revenue of $27.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $1.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.02%.

PepsiCo Company 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.