Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 27,671 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 780 shares during the quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $4,700,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in PepsiCo by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 95,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,224,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the period. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $318,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 46,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,965,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 93,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,812,000 after acquiring an additional 16,494 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 24,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,109,000 after acquiring an additional 2,383 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP traded down $1.10 on Friday, hitting $175.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,472,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,365,961. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.83 and a 12-month high of $196.88. The company has a market capitalization of $241.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $169.40 and a 200-day moving average of $167.86.

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

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. 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 report on Monday, February 12th. Argus downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.