PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Bought by Monarch Capital Management Inc.

Monarch Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,177 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Monarch Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 1.0% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,717,069,000 after buying an additional 582,254 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in 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 period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $2,729,565,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in PepsiCo by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,403,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,494,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,818 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $163.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Bank of America reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $160.69.

PepsiCo Trading Up 1.4%

PEP opened at $131.83 on Wednesday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.75 and a 12 month high of $180.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.97, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $135.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.74.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The company’s revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.