Wright Investors Service Inc. Makes New Investment in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Wright Investors Service Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 13,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,241,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 80.5% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Avion Wealth raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 61.7% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Pacific Center for Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the first quarter valued at about $47,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.92.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.6 %

PEP stock traded up $1.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $170.58. 1,420,050 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,666,903. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $234.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.80, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.38. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.83 and a 12-month high of $196.88.

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

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $1.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.