Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC Buys New Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PEP. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Avion Wealth increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 61.7% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $175.91. 4,465,101 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,806,826. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.86. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.83 and a 52-week high of $196.88. The company has a market capitalization of $241.84 billion, a PE ratio of 26.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PEP shares. Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.42.

PepsiCo Company Profile

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.