Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Raises Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 14,113 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PEP. Norges Bank purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,686,139,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 9,623.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,058,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $519,381,000 after acquiring an additional 3,026,611 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 121.4% during the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,727,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495,586 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted 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 acquiring an additional 1,470,064 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,520,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345,065 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,603,634. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on PEP. BNP Paribas began coverage on PepsiCo in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.38.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PEP traded down $1.33 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $164.93. 8,756,033 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,392,291. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $192.38. The company has a market cap of $226.74 billion, a PE ratio of 24.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $173.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.30.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.50%.

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.