PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Bought by W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.

W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. increased its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 25.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,328 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 685 shares during the period. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $565,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 59.4% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 993,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,747,000 after acquiring an additional 370,122 shares during the period. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,747,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $405,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 13,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,091,000 after purchasing an additional 3,159 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Argus lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.42.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ PEP traded up $0.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $176.15. 3,492,120 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,328,097. The company has a market capitalization of $242.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $168.46. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month high of $196.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

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.