PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Bought by Sterling Financial Planning Inc.

Sterling Financial Planning Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,282 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Sterling Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. TAGStone Capital Inc. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. TAGStone Capital Inc. now owns 2,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 7,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pflug Koory LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 1.0% during the first quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 7,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,162,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PEP. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $159.75.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $135.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.65. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $180.91. The stock has a market cap of $185.88 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $131.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.40.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 58.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 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.