United Asset Strategies Inc. Buys 3,716 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

United Asset Strategies Inc. raised its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,179 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,716 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $3,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Kennon Green & Company LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 10.1% in the third quarter. Kennon Green & Company LLC now owns 25,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,593,000 after purchasing an additional 2,355 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC now owns 51,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,206,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. West Bancorporation Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. West Bancorporation Inc. now owns 5,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $739,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC increased its position in PepsiCo by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 22,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,172,000 after buying an additional 670 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 11.6% during the third quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 143,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,181,000 after buying an additional 14,993 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. DZ Bank upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $167.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. HSBC raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $172.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $158.68.

PepsiCo Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of PEP opened at $137.01 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.72. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $160.15. The company has a market cap of $187.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.05, a P/E/G ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.42.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.03. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.58% and a net margin of 7.82%.The company had revenue of $23.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.31 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were given a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 108.17%.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ: PEP) is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.