AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Takes Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 5,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $836,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 2.0% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 4,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $777,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in PepsiCo by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,724,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,143,495,000 after purchasing an additional 281,318 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in PepsiCo by 2.0% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 570,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,044,000 after buying an additional 11,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 30.7% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 69,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,740,000 after buying an additional 16,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $149.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.51 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The company has a fifty day moving average of $149.23 and a 200-day moving average of $158.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The business’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PEP. UBS Group reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $169.88.

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.