Cerity Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 962,264 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,336 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $144,267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Code Waechter LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 17.6% in the 1st quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 3,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the period. Telos Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 133,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,060,000 after buying an additional 6,880 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 1st quarter worth $90,000. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in PepsiCo by 1.8% during the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 43,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,546,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 74,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,096,000 after acquiring an additional 7,218 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Stock Up 1.2%

NASDAQ PEP opened at $136.08 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $180.91. The stock has a market cap of $186.58 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.83.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 58.28%. The company had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.61 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 83.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PEP shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Dbs Bank downgraded PepsiCo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $158.50.

PepsiCo Company 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.