Ascent Group LLC Purchases 11,553 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 36.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,837 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,553 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $7,284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 17.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 16,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,891,000 after buying an additional 2,431 shares during the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 2nd quarter valued at about $89,000. Sage Capital Advisors llc increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 39,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,510,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 37,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,124,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the period. Finally, Eastover Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Eastover Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,947,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on PEP shares. TD Cowen lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $183.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $179.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $183.92.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of PEP stock opened at $163.45 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $167.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.30. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.85 and a 1 year high of $183.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market cap of $224.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $23.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.86 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.32% and a net margin of 10.18%. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.25 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 79.94%.

PepsiCo Company 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.