PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Purchased by Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 93.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 88,700 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,758 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $15,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 9,623.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,058,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $519,381,000 after buying an additional 3,026,611 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $329,179,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 121.4% during the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,727,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,586 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,641,389,000 after buying an additional 1,470,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in PepsiCo by 68.0% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,922,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,382,000 after buying an additional 1,183,371 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.4 %

PEP traded up $0.70 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $176.15. 3,491,857 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,741,471. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $170.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.26. The company has a market cap of $242.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.83 and a fifty-two week high of $196.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup raised shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Argus downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.42.

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.