Sterling Financial Planning Inc. Acquires 103 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Sterling Financial Planning Inc. raised its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,939 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Sterling Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 80.5% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Avion Wealth lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 61.7% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 241 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Pacific Center for Financial Services acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the first quarter worth approximately $47,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Argus downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.92.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock traded up $2.79 on Thursday, hitting $172.27. 5,573,781 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,722,261. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $168.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.79 billion, a PE ratio of 26.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $155.83 and a one year high of $196.88.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $27.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.40 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.03% and a net margin of 9.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $1.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.02%.

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.