Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Takes $3.08 Million Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 20,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,080,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PEP. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.69.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $130.31 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $142.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $150.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $178.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.75, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.75 and a 1-year high of $183.41.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.37%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 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.