PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Purchased by Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,352 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,607,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 80.5% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Avion Wealth grew its position in PepsiCo by 61.7% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 241 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Argus cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.42.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $175.91 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $241.84 billion, a PE ratio of 26.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $169.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.16. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month high of $196.88.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend 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.