Zhang Financial LLC Grows Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Zhang Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PEP. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in PepsiCo by 59.4% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 993,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,747,000 after purchasing an additional 370,122 shares during the period. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in PepsiCo by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,747,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at $405,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.4% in the third quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 13,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,091,000 after buying an additional 3,159 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.92.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of PEP traded up $1.08 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $173.35. The company had a trading volume of 3,119,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,687,674. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $238.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.53. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.83 and a 1 year high of $196.88.

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

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $1.265 dividend. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date 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.