Howard Capital Management Inc. Buys 1,244 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 41,762 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,244 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $6,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,738,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775,679 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,497,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,170,529,000 after purchasing an additional 543,558 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,360,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,632,413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125,059 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,293,049,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,445 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,098,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,057,359,000 after purchasing an additional 313,468 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Trading Up 3.0 %

PEP opened at $153.50 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.51 and a fifty-two week high of $183.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $148.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $162.18.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the subject of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 target price for the company. CICC Research restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.47.

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.