Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC Takes $3.12 Million Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 20,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,116,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 99,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,968,000 after buying an additional 8,406 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 104.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,350,000 after acquiring an additional 870,451 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 11.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 350,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,549,000 after acquiring an additional 34,633 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,323,000 after purchasing an additional 4,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,220 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the topic of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. CICC Research restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $156.42 on Wednesday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.51 and a 12 month high of $183.41. The company has a market capitalization of $214.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $148.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $161.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

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.