Cullinan Associates Inc. Raises Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Cullinan Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,588 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 463 shares during the quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $5,178,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,876,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $995,728,000 after purchasing an additional 121,742 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its stake in PepsiCo by 8.7% in the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,258,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,296,000 after buying an additional 100,650 shares in the last quarter. Elevatus Welath Management lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 4.3% in the third quarter. Elevatus Welath Management now owns 2,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Legacy Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 36,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,216,000 after acquiring an additional 3,349 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,165,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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 accessible through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.38.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $163.58 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $224.89 billion, a PE ratio of 24.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.83 and a 52-week high of $192.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.86.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (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 prior year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.50%.

About PepsiCo

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.