Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Acquires 24,445 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 7.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 332,179 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,445 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $49,807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Ossiam increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. Ossiam now owns 73,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,192,000 after purchasing an additional 42,793 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 124,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,977,000 after acquiring an additional 13,461 shares during the last quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,178,000 after acquiring an additional 6,865 shares during the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth $47,899,000. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 39.2% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 17,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,604,000 after purchasing an additional 4,825 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on PEP. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $163.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $129.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $176.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.45. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.75 and a 52-week high of $180.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $133.19 and a 200-day moving average of $143.95.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 58.28%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.41%. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend 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.