Acadian Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 5.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 760,925 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,709 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned about 0.06% of PepsiCo worth $133,147,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. South Street Advisors LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. South Street Advisors LLC now owns 75,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,299,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the period. Alera Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 19.0% in the first quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $762,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the period. Spirepoint Private Client LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the first quarter worth $1,176,000. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.1% in the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 40,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,970,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the period. Finally, Councilmark Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the first quarter worth $754,000. 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 stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at $9,603,634. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, DZ Bank cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $183.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $185.53.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ PEP traded down $1.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $169.36. 5,332,848 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,599,835. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $169.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $169.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.68. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.83 and a 12-month high of $192.38. The firm has a market cap of $232.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.58, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $22.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.59 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 57.37%. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.66%.

About PepsiCo

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.