Richardson Financial Services Inc. Makes New Investment in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $743,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its stake in PepsiCo by 80.5% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Fortis Group Advisors LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at PepsiCo

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 value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.17.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.3 %

PEP traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $163.81. The stock had a trading volume of 3,603,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,978,118. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $173.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.40. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $225.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.52.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.50%.

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.