Main Street Research LLC Boosts Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Main Street Research LLC grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 34.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,492 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 642 shares during the period. Main Street Research LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in PepsiCo during the third quarter valued at $25,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 80.5% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Avion Wealth lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 61.7% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on PEP. Argus downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Citigroup raised shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.92.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock traded up $1.50 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $168.45. 2,054,192 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,712,056. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.83 and a 1 year high of $196.88. The company has a market capitalization of $231.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a fifty day moving average of $168.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 58.03%. The company had revenue of $27.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.67 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $1.265 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.02%.

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.