Weaver Consulting Group Acquires 131 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Weaver Consulting Group grew its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,732 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Weaver Consulting Group’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,001,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,227,287,000 after purchasing an additional 578,083 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at $2,686,139,000. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,641,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,064 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,520,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345,065 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in PepsiCo by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,421,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,430,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,127 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at PepsiCo

In related news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of PepsiCo stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.38.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP stock opened at $164.93 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month 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 50-day moving average price of $173.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.31. The stock has a market cap of $226.74 billion, a PE ratio of 24.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 81.50%.

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.