Palisade Asset Management LLC Acquires 6,889 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Palisade Asset Management LLC grew its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 93,828 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,889 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo makes up 1.7% of Palisade Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $15,936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jacobsen Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management now owns 2,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Northstar Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northstar Asset Management LLC now owns 18,288 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,914 shares during the last quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 94,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,089,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 5,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mastrapasqua Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mastrapasqua Asset Management Inc. now owns 57,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,699,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PEP shares. Argus cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Citigroup upgraded PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six 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.com, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.42.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $177.41. The stock had a trading volume of 3,238,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,654,493. The business’s fifty day moving average is $170.49 and its 200-day moving average is $168.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The firm has a market cap of $243.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.79, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $155.83 and a 1-year high of $196.88.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.