First Manhattan CO. LLC. Purchases 1,850 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,942 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares during the quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $18,036,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. HSBC dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $131.43 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $144.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $151.34. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.16 and a 52 week high of $183.41. The company has a market capitalization of $180.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.91, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.33%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.68%.

About PepsiCo

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.