PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Stock Position Lifted by First National Advisers LLC

First National Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 33,734 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares during the period. PepsiCo makes up about 0.8% of First National Advisers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. First National Advisers LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $5,130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 3,856,193 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,738,429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,775,679 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 21.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,293,049,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 211.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592,343 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on PEP. CICC Research reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 7th. 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. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $170.59.

PepsiCo Price Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $148.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $203.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $148.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $159.99. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $141.51 and a one year high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. Analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

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.