PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Acquired by Greenwood Gearhart Inc.

Greenwood Gearhart Inc. lifted its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 30.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,795 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MSH Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,195,000. Finer Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Finer Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,396,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Stenger Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $334,000. Finward Bancorp acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth about $627,000. Finally, M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,111,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on PEP. Citigroup cut their price target on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. CICC Research reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.12.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP opened at $140.09 on Thursday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $138.33 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.11 billion, a PE ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $148.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $155.32.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 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.