PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Acquired by Choate Investment Advisors

Choate Investment Advisors grew its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 142,176 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,639 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in PepsiCo were worth $21,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PEP. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 211.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,343 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 4,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $777,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 2,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Northcape Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,802,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Coastline Trust Co boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 22,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,831,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PEP shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays raised their target price on PepsiCo from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, CICC Research reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.59.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.2 %

PEP opened at $148.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $203.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $141.51 and a 52 week high of $183.41. The business’s 50 day moving average is $148.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

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.