Raymond James & Associates Acquires 55,004 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,225,764 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 55,004 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in PepsiCo were worth $389,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Accordant Advisory Group Inc purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the first quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Professional Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. now owns 150,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,372,000 after buying an additional 8,277 shares during the last quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC boosted its position in PepsiCo by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 4,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $861,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Cassia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 23.8% in the 1st quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $906,000 after acquiring an additional 994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hendershot Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 2.7% during the first quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. now owns 103,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,184,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Argus lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.42.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $175.58. 4,472,102 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,365,961. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $241.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.40, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.53. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $155.83 and a 52 week high of $196.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $169.40 and a 200-day moving average of $167.86.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $1.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 76.09%.

About PepsiCo

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.