Brown Financial Advisors Invests $452,000 in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Brown Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $452,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 93.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on PEP. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BNP Paribas cut their price target on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, CICC Research reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.47.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $153.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $211.01 billion, a PE ratio of 22.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.51 and a 1 year high of $183.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $148.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $161.98.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The firm’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

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.