First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA Acquires 847 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA lifted its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 13.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,925 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 847 shares during the quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,280,471,000 after buying an additional 1,376,133 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,717,069,000 after acquiring an additional 582,254 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $2,729,565,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,013,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,130,841,000 after purchasing an additional 689,383 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of PEP stock opened at $140.09 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The company has a market capitalization of $192.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $138.33 and a 12-month high of $183.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $148.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.32.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. PepsiCo’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 77.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays downgraded PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $168.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $168.12.

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.