Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Buys 703 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,141 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 703 shares during the quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth $2,729,565,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at about $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% in the 4th 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 period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,738,429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,775,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 2,264,445 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. CICC Research restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, HSBC reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.88.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.3 %

PepsiCo stock opened at $149.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.48, a PEG 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.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio 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.