Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,372 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 790 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $4,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,001,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,227,287,000 after acquiring an additional 578,083 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in PepsiCo by 3.7% during 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 during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth $2,686,139,000. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,641,389,000 after buying an additional 1,470,064 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,520,909,000 after buying an additional 1,345,065 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.42.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock traded down $1.10 on Friday, hitting $175.58. The stock had a trading volume of 4,472,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,365,961. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $196.88. The business’s 50 day moving average is $169.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.86. 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 has a market cap of $241.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.50 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $1.265 per share. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

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.