TCW Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

TCW Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 343,999 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,102 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $58,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in PepsiCo by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 2.7% in the third quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its stake in PepsiCo by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on PEP shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.58.

PepsiCo Stock Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ:PEP traded down $2.82 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $179.27. 3,499,580 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,482,655. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.83 and a fifty-two week high of $192.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The company has a market capitalization of $246.46 billion, a PE ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.00.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total value of $1,000,360.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,603,634. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.