Rakuten Securities Inc. Acquires New Shares in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 59.4% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 993,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,747,000 after purchasing an additional 370,122 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,747,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $405,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.4% in the third quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 13,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,091,000 after purchasing an additional 3,159 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $169.48 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $168.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.38. The firm has a market cap of $232.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $155.83 and a 52 week high of $196.88. 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 issued 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. The firm had revenue of $27.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.40 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.03% and a net margin of 9.92%. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $1.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 9th. Citigroup upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.92.

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.