Boston Research & Management Inc. Buys 710 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Boston Research & Management Inc. boosted its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 34,918 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the period. Boston Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $5,309,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 104.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,350,000 after purchasing an additional 870,451 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,323,000 after buying an additional 4,712 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 350,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,549,000 after buying an additional 34,633 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,220 shares during the period. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,236,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,031,000 after purchasing an additional 61,541 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $149.27 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.51 and a fifty-two week high of $183.41. The firm has a market cap of $204.72 billion, a PE ratio of 21.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $149.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $157.91.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The company’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.88.

PepsiCo 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.