Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,497 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,112,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 80.5% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Avion Wealth raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 61.7% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacific Center for Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 1st quarter valued at $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Argus lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.92.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PepsiCo stock traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $167.50. 4,568,835 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,747,456. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.83 and a 12-month high of $196.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $230.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $27.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.40 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 58.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $1.265 dividend. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.02%.

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.