Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC Grows Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,604 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in PepsiCo by 95,514.1% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,876,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,746,023,000 after purchasing an additional 42,831,405 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $2,519,707,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in PepsiCo by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 26,720,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,827,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,629,947 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank purchased a new position in PepsiCo in the second quarter worth about $360,472,000. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo in the third quarter worth about $329,179,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PEP traded up $1.44 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $175.01. 5,710,410 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,942,093. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The stock has a market cap of $240.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.53. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.83 and a 1 year high of $196.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $168.10 and a 200 day moving average of $167.99.

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

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $1.265 per share. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 9th. 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 report on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $185.00 to $176.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup raised PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.77.

PepsiCo 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.