Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Has $3.64 Million Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 76.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,244 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,539 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $3,635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PEP. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $946,978,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 19,106.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,588,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $688,017,000 after purchasing an additional 4,564,723 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in PepsiCo by 106.1% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,514,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809,391 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in PepsiCo by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 135,174,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,268,027,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $221,297,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on PepsiCo from $140.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $158.73.

PepsiCo Price Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $150.40 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $179.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.91 billion, a PE ratio of 27.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.45.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a net margin of 8.23% and a return on equity of 57.81%. The business had revenue of $22.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.64%.

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.