Van ECK Associates Corp Grows Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 274,871 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 39,718 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $46,684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. LWM Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Steele Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth about $553,000. Altrius Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 20,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,401,000 after buying an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 98,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,765,000 after buying an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orca Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Orca Investment Management LLC now owns 4,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $693,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on PEP. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Argus cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.42.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:PEP traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $175.83. 981,196 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,762,937. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.86. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.83 and a 12-month high of $196.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $241.73 billion, a PE ratio of 26.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50-day moving average of $169.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.05.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid 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 2.88%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 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.