Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 168,920 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 221 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo accounts for about 1.0% of Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $29,563,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Cullinan Associates Inc. grew its stake in PepsiCo by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 29,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,178,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 1st quarter valued at about $89,000. Steele Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Steele Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $585,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $879,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $163.58 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.26. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month high of $192.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $224.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.60, a PEG ratio of 2.71 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 (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis 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 is presently 81.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PEP shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. 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. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Argus cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at PepsiCo

In other PepsiCo news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the 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 completion of 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.