Ketron Financial Purchases Shares of 53,220 PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Ketron Financial purchased a new stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 53,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,638,000. PepsiCo makes up 2.5% of Ketron Financial’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Strategic Advocates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on PEP shares. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $154.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.10.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.3%

PepsiCo stock opened at $142.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.11 billion, a PE ratio of 22.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.31. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $171.48.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.48 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.94%.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ: PEP) is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.