Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. Takes Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. acquired a new stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 7,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,299,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,001,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,227,287,000 after acquiring an additional 578,083 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,686,139,000. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,641,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,064 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,520,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345,065 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in PepsiCo by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,421,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,430,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,127 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at PepsiCo

In other news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at $9,603,634. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on PEP. Barclays reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. 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 report on Monday, March 18th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. BNP Paribas began coverage on PepsiCo in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.64.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PepsiCo stock traded up $1.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $164.39. 4,208,217 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,996,291. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $172.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.10. The company has a market capitalization of $226.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.72, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.83 and a 12-month high of $192.38.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.50%.

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.