Red Mountain Financial LLC Makes New $285,000 Investment in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Red Mountain Financial LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $285,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in PepsiCo by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,001,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,227,287,000 after acquiring an additional 578,083 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,878,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,859,812,000 after purchasing an additional 595,357 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth $2,686,139,000. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,641,389,000 after buying an additional 1,470,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,520,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345,065 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $166.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $228.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.98, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month high of $192.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $173.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.40.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on PEP shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Argus lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.17.

Insider Transactions at PepsiCo

In related news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo 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.