Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. Buys New Shares in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its position in PepsiCo by 80.5% during 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 grew its position in PepsiCo by 100.0% during 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 purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP traded down $1.33 during trading on Friday, hitting $164.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,756,033 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,392,291. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.83 and a fifty-two week high of $192.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $173.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.31. The company has a market capitalization of $226.74 billion, a PE ratio of 24.80, a PEG 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 the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PEP shares. Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. BNP Paribas began coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Argus downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.38.

Insider Transactions at PepsiCo

In other 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

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.