Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 8,500 Shares of Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP) by 19.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,670 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,500 shares during the period. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Keurig Dr Pepper were worth $1,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KDP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,840,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,786,075,000 after buying an additional 7,825,418 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Keurig Dr Pepper by 107.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 23,654,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $725,487,000 after acquiring an additional 12,259,471 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 5.0% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 15,318,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $574,146,000 after acquiring an additional 730,297 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its position in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 2.4% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 13,342,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,648,000 after acquiring an additional 317,837 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Keurig Dr Pepper by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,971,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,057,000 after purchasing an additional 609,857 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Keurig Dr Pepper news, major shareholder Bevco B.V. Jab sold 69,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.65, for a total value of $2,252,850,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 214,443,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,001,592,649.35. This trade represents a 24.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Keurig Dr Pepper from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from $43.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Keurig Dr Pepper to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.36.

Keurig Dr Pepper Stock Performance

KDP opened at $31.66 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $35.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.95 billion, a PE ratio of 19.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.61 and a 12-month high of $38.28.

Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ:KDP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.51. The business had revenue of $3.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. Keurig Dr Pepper had a return on equity of 10.45% and a net margin of 15.04%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Keurig Dr Pepper Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This is a boost from Keurig Dr Pepper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. Keurig Dr Pepper’s payout ratio is presently 55.76%.

Keurig Dr Pepper Profile

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc owns, manufactures, and distributors beverages and single serve brewing systems in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Refreshment Beverages, U.S. Coffee, and International. The U.S. Refreshment Beverages segment manufactures and distributes branded concentrates, syrup, and finished beverages.