Verus Financial Partners Inc. Boosts Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Verus Financial Partners Inc. boosted its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 41.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,641 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 779 shares during the quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $443,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 9,623.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,058,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $519,381,000 after acquiring an additional 3,026,611 shares during the period. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter valued at $329,179,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 121.4% during the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,727,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,259,000 after buying an additional 1,495,586 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,641,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in PepsiCo by 68.0% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,922,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,382,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183,371 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.42.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $177.65. 702,678 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,612,372. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.70. The company has a market capitalization of $244.23 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.68. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $155.83 and a one year high of $196.88.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

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.