Delta Investment Management LLC Acquires 1,480 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Delta Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 45.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,753 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,480 shares during the period. Delta Investment Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth about $2,729,565,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after buying an additional 3,856,193 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in PepsiCo by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,280,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 360.0% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,697,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328,672 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Barclays reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $160.69.

PepsiCo Price Performance

NASDAQ PEP opened at $131.79 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $180.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $141.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $149.19. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.87 and a 1 year high of $182.13.

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 business had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $1.4225 dividend. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 83.68%.

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.