Titan Investment Management LLC Takes $1.88 Million Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Titan Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,880,000. PepsiCo accounts for about 1.7% of Titan Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in PepsiCo by 3.6% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 554,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,916,000 after purchasing an additional 19,218 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its position in PepsiCo by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 415,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,600,000 after purchasing an additional 42,335 shares during the last quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 622.3% during the 4th quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. now owns 35,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,110,000 after purchasing an additional 30,674 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 104,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,030,000 after purchasing an additional 54,405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,143,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,218,000 after buying an additional 77,051 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 12th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $173.00 to $168.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $167.10.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of PEP stock opened at $142.02 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.31. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $194.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.35.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.The firm had revenue of $19.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 92.94%.

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.