Welch Group LLC Buys 7,323 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Welch Group LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 353,597 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,323 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $44,808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Core Capital Management & Research inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 2nd quarter worth $932,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,406,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,179,099,000 after acquiring an additional 987,582 shares during the last quarter. First Nebraska Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the first quarter valued at about $10,782,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,110,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,409,000 after purchasing an additional 177,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 157.0% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 529,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,168,000 after purchasing an additional 323,278 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ramon Laguarta sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.13, for a total value of $4,053,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 491,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,435,988.85. The trade was a 5.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert C. Pohlad acquired 184,646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $128.28 per share, for a total transaction of $23,686,388.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 433,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,546,394.52. This represents a 74.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $137.34 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $145.87. The company has a market cap of $187.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.35. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.47 and a fifty-two week high of $171.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.94.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 7th. The company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.05. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 53.08% and a net margin of 11.09%. The company had revenue of $25.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $132.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $145.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded PepsiCo from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.28.

PepsiCo Profile

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ:PEP) is a global food and beverage company whose portfolio includes Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Quaker, Tostitos, Fritos, and SodaStream. Its products span carbonated soft drinks, sports and energy beverages, bottled water, juices, convenient foods, snacks, and other packaged food offerings.

The company sells products through retail stores, restaurants, food-service providers, e-commerce platforms, and other distribution channels. PepsiCo serves consumers in North America and international markets across Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.