Zuckerman Investment Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Zuckerman Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 17.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,282 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,457 shares during the period. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in PepsiCo by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,280,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,133 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,717,069,000 after purchasing an additional 582,254 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after acquiring an additional 3,856,193 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,729,565,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in PepsiCo by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,013,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,130,841,000 after acquiring an additional 689,383 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $145.59 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $199.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $138.33 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.13.

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. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. PepsiCo’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. Analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on PEP. BNP Paribas decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays lowered shares of PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $168.00 to $156.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a $172.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.88.

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.