Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires Shares of 13,260 Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $426,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Keurig Dr Pepper by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 102,183,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,829,824,000 after purchasing an additional 9,105,164 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 10.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,609,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,908,289,000 after buying an additional 4,970,467 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 394.3% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,452,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,908,000 after buying an additional 1,956,138 shares during the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC raised its holdings in Keurig Dr Pepper by 186.3% in the second quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,486,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,635,000 after acquiring an additional 966,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in Keurig Dr Pepper by 125.5% during the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,378,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,679,000 after acquiring an additional 767,298 shares during the last quarter. 93.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Bevco B.V. Jab sold 69,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.65, for a total value of $2,252,850,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 214,443,879 shares in the company, valued at $7,001,592,649.35. This represents a 24.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Keurig Dr Pepper Stock Down 1.4 %

KDP stock opened at $31.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.12 billion, a PE ratio of 18.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.62. Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.61 and a 12 month high of $38.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.17.

Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ:KDP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.51. Keurig Dr Pepper had a return on equity of 10.45% and a net margin of 15.04%. The business had revenue of $3.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.48 earnings per share. Keurig Dr Pepper’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Keurig Dr Pepper Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Keurig Dr Pepper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KDP has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Keurig Dr Pepper from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from $43.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Keurig Dr Pepper presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.50.

Keurig Dr Pepper Company Profile

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc owns, manufactures, and distributors beverages and single serve brewing systems in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Refreshment Beverages, U.S. Coffee, and International. The U.S. Refreshment Beverages segment manufactures and distributes branded concentrates, syrup, and finished beverages.