MONECO Advisors LLC Purchases 2,462 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 49.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,437 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,462 shares during the quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in PepsiCo by 59.4% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 993,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,747,000 after purchasing an additional 370,122 shares during the period. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in PepsiCo by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,747,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at $405,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in PepsiCo by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 13,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,091,000 after buying an additional 3,159 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PEP. Citigroup raised shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.42.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $175.89 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $169.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $168.16. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $196.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $241.81 billion, a PE ratio of 26.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

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.