Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. Grows Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. lifted its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 622.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 35,603 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 30,674 shares during the period. PepsiCo makes up about 1.4% of Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $5,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in PepsiCo in the second quarter worth approximately $2,330,594,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 14,420.2% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,890,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $513,726,000 after acquiring an additional 3,863,893 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 120.7% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,916,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $830,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,235,726 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 112.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,040,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,452,000 after purchasing an additional 2,139,847 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in PepsiCo by 30.0% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,207,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995,362 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on PEP. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on PepsiCo from $163.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $154.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Evercore lifted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $152.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.00.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ PEP opened at $150.88 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.48. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $158.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $149.93. The firm has a market cap of $206.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.39.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.92% and a net margin of 8.77%.The company had revenue of $29.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.83%.

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.