SlateStone Wealth LLC Buys 613 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 102,869 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 613 shares during the period. PepsiCo comprises 2.3% of SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $17,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PEP. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its stake 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 bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Avion Wealth increased its stake in PepsiCo by 61.7% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $169.80 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.63. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $155.83 and a 52 week 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. The firm has a market cap of $233.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 58.03%. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.92.

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.