Howe & Rusling Inc. Purchases 6,825 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,342 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,825 shares during the period. PepsiCo accounts for approximately 1.8% of Howe & Rusling Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $17,382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,423,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,736,000 after purchasing an additional 920,032 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,878,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,859,812,000 after purchasing an additional 595,357 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,641,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,064 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,316,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,239,629,000 after purchasing an additional 608,321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,774,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,147,922,000 after purchasing an additional 142,243 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PepsiCo stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $175.76. The stock had a trading volume of 2,673,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,765,982. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.83 and a 1 year high of $196.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $169.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.16. The stock has a market cap of $241.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.53.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.42.

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.