Prudential Financial Inc. Buys 179,067 Shares of Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP)

Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,435,311 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 179,067 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Keurig Dr Pepper were worth $110,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KDP. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Keurig Dr Pepper during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper during the third quarter worth about $61,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper in the fourth quarter worth about $70,000. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Keurig Dr Pepper during the 4th quarter valued at about $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Angela A. Stephens sold 7,350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.17, for a total transaction of $251,149.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 74,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,548,637.79. This trade represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bevco B.V. Jab sold 83,950,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.65, for a total value of $2,740,967,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 134,113,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,378,805,089.35. This trade represents a 38.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 84,397,350 shares of company stock valued at $2,756,292,570. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Keurig Dr Pepper currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.23.

Keurig Dr Pepper Stock Performance

Shares of KDP opened at $33.85 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $45.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.62. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $32.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.61. Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.86 and a 52 week high of $38.28.

Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ:KDP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.01. Keurig Dr Pepper had a return on equity of 10.45% and a net margin of 15.04%. The business had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Keurig Dr Pepper Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. Keurig Dr Pepper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.62%.

About Keurig Dr Pepper

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc owns, manufactures, and distributors beverages and single serve brewing systems in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Refreshment Beverages, U.S. Coffee, and International. The U.S. Refreshment Beverages segment manufactures and distributes branded concentrates, syrup, and finished beverages.