Waverton Investment Management Ltd Has $373,000 Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Waverton Investment Management Ltd reduced its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 98.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,659 shares of the company’s stock after selling 212,121 shares during the quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Clayton Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter worth about $872,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in PepsiCo by 2.6% during the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 185,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,554,000 after buying an additional 4,627 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 122.6% during the third quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 20,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,860,000 after acquiring an additional 11,217 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,659,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,671,500,000 after acquiring an additional 1,330,888 shares during the period. Finally, Amica Retiree Medical Trust acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $124,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on PEP shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $191.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $164.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.00.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $169.74 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $231.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $171.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $153.15 and a 200-day moving average of $148.83.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $29.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.96 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.92% and a net margin of 8.77%.The business’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 94.83%.

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.