PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Bought by Range Financial Group LLC

Range Financial Group LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 5.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,606 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $456,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its position in PepsiCo by 80.5% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Fortis Group Advisors LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on PEP. Barclays dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $186.15.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP opened at $168.08 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $231.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 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 1-year low of $155.83 and a 1-year high of $192.38. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $173.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.36.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PepsiCo news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of PepsiCo stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total transaction 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.