PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Holdings Increased by Essex Financial Services Inc.

Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,217 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 136 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $4,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PEP. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 9,623.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,058,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $519,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,026,611 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the third quarter worth approximately $329,179,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 121.4% in the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,727,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495,586 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position 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 worth $1,641,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 68.0% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,922,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,382,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183,371 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley raised 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 report on Monday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Argus downgraded 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.42.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock traded down $0.40 on Wednesday, reaching $175.51. The stock had a trading volume of 1,931,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,758,914. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $169.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $168.16. 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 fifty-two week low of $155.83 and a fifty-two week high of $196.88. The stock has a market cap of $241.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.53.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

About PepsiCo

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.