Advocate Group LLC Takes Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Advocate Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 59,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,031,000 after acquiring an additional 6,574 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth $9,268,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in PepsiCo by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 470,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,527,000 after purchasing an additional 11,538 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $162,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PEP shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $163.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP opened at $129.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $133.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.06. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.75 and a 12 month high of $180.91.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.28% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.41%. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 83.68%.

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.