Sage Financial Management Group Inc. Invests $233,000 in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Sage Financial Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Flossbach Von Storch AG grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 67.2% in the 1st quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 4,560,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $798,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,832,385 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 211.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,343 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 125.2% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,740,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,003,000 after purchasing an additional 1,523,631 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 429.3% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,454,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,603,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 7.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,547,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,234,400,000 after acquiring an additional 905,468 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PEP. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $183.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $183.92.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $175.06 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $158.03 and a 1-year high of $183.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $240.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.82, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 57.32%. The business had revenue of $23.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.94%.

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.