Aviva PLC Sells 332,710 Shares of Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP)

Aviva PLC cut its stake in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP) by 32.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 692,463 shares of the company’s stock after selling 332,710 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Keurig Dr Pepper were worth $22,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 82.8% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 859 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Keurig Dr Pepper in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the period. 93.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KDP. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $38.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Keurig Dr Pepper in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Keurig Dr Pepper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.38.

Insider Activity

In other Keurig Dr Pepper news, VP Angela A. Stephens sold 7,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $2,548,637.79. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Mary Beth Denooyer sold 12,000 shares of Keurig Dr Pepper stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $417,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 166,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,791,252.58. This trade represents a 6.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 84,409,350 shares of company stock worth $2,756,709,930. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Keurig Dr Pepper Stock Performance

KDP opened at $33.81 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.05 and a 200 day moving average of $33.43. Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.12 and a fifty-two week high of $38.28.

Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ:KDP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Keurig Dr Pepper had a return on equity of 10.45% and a net margin of 15.04%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Keurig Dr Pepper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 87.62%.

Keurig Dr Pepper Company Profile

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.