Massachusetts Wealth Management Raises Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Massachusetts Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,181 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo comprises about 1.6% of Massachusetts Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Massachusetts Wealth Management’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DMC Group LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 13.9% in the first quarter. DMC Group LLC now owns 1,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 3,345.6% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 179,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,391,000 after purchasing an additional 174,171 shares during the last quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 1st quarter valued at about $783,000. United Capital Management of KS Inc. boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 5.8% in the first quarter. United Capital Management of KS Inc. now owns 26,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,674,000 after buying an additional 1,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Link Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the first quarter worth approximately $407,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. Barclays cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Argus downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.64.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP traded down $0.98 during trading on Thursday, hitting $162.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,879,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,397,682. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $155.83 and a one year high of $192.38. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $172.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The firm has a market cap of $223.54 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of PepsiCo stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,603,634. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.