Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP) Shares Acquired by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management increased its holdings in Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP) by 53.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 140,415 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,946 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Keurig Dr Pepper were worth $4,679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KDP. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 60,682,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,915,731,000 after acquiring an additional 6,926,582 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Keurig Dr Pepper by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,196,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,594,945,000 after buying an additional 5,490,242 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Keurig Dr Pepper by 65.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,347,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,240,000 after buying an additional 1,725,535 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Keurig Dr Pepper by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 15,213,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $506,899,000 after buying an additional 1,518,286 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Keurig Dr Pepper by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,173,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,304,000 after buying an additional 1,441,007 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on KDP shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Holdings B.V. Jab sold 51,956,522 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.90, for a total transaction of $1,501,543,485.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 331,487,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,579,984,617.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Robert S. Singer sold 12,132 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.25, for a total transaction of $354,861.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 37,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,101,057.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings B.V. Jab sold 51,956,522 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.90, for a total transaction of $1,501,543,485.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 331,487,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,579,984,617.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 100,012,132 shares of company stock valued at $2,890,354,861 in the last 90 days. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Keurig Dr Pepper Price Performance

KDP stock traded up $1.50 during trading on Thursday, hitting $33.84. The stock had a trading volume of 14,555,749 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,583,311. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $30.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.03. Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $35.80. The stock has a market cap of $46.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.38.

Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ:KDP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. Keurig Dr Pepper had a net margin of 14.72% and a return on equity of 9.93%. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Keurig Dr Pepper Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a dividend of $0.215 per share. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Keurig Dr Pepper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.48%.

About Keurig Dr Pepper

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc owns, manufactures, and distributors beverages and single serve brewing systems in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Refreshment Beverages, U.S. Coffee, and International. The U.S. Refreshment Beverages segment manufactures and distributes branded concentrates, syrup, and finished beverages.