PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Purchased by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 16.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 203,195 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,610 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $30,898,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PEP shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $163.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PepsiCo stock opened at $131.50 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $149.90. The company has a market capitalization of $180.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.87 and a 1 year high of $183.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. PepsiCo’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 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.