Sage Private Wealth Group LLC Makes New $203,000 Investment in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Sage Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 1,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 17,113.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,220,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $547,626,000 after buying an additional 3,201,676 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,738,429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,775,679 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in PepsiCo by 21.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,293,049,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264,445 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in PepsiCo by 211.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,360,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,632,413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125,059 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $145.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.51 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.87.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. CICC Research reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.47.

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.