Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Acquires 837 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 15.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,393 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 837 shares during the period. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.33.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP traded up $5.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $176.84. The company had a trading volume of 4,728,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,783,886. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.63. The company has a market capitalization of $243.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.53. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $155.83 and a 1-year high of $196.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.85.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 58.03%. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.02%.

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.