PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP Stock Bought by Welch Group LLC

Welch Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 353,597 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,323 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $44,808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. True Freedom Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. True Freedom Investing LLC now owns 40,304 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,107,000 after acquiring an additional 3,223 shares during the period. Traynor Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 32.9% in the third quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the period. Orca Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 589.3% in the third quarter. Orca Investment Management LLC now owns 25,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,219,000 after purchasing an additional 21,720 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its position in PepsiCo by 7.7% during the third quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 191,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,240,000 after purchasing an additional 13,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinkerton Wealth LLC increased its position in PepsiCo by 7.0% during the third quarter. Pinkerton Wealth LLC now owns 41,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,224,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $137.34 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.87. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.47 and a twelve month high of $171.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $187.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.25, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.35.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 7th. The company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $25.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.95 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 53.08% and a net margin of 11.09%. PepsiCo’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at PepsiCo

In other PepsiCo news, Director Robert C. Pohlad purchased 184,646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $128.28 per share, for a total transaction of $23,686,388.88. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 433,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,546,394.52. The trade was a 74.35% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ramon Laguarta sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.13, for a total value of $4,053,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 491,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,435,988.85. The trade was a 5.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $145.00 to $133.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Weiss Ratings cut PepsiCo from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $176.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $159.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.28.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ:PEP) is a global food and beverage company whose portfolio includes Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Quaker, Tostitos, Fritos, and SodaStream. Its products span carbonated soft drinks, sports and energy beverages, bottled water, juices, convenient foods, snacks, and other packaged food offerings.

The company sells products through retail stores, restaurants, food-service providers, e-commerce platforms, and other distribution channels. PepsiCo serves consumers in North America and international markets across Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.