WD Rutherford LLC Takes $504,000 Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

WD Rutherford LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 16,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after buying an additional 1,428 shares during the period. Norris Perne & French LLP MI lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 6,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,135,000 after acquiring an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,064,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 9,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,732,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asio Capital LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 13.2% during the first quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 25,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,472,000 after purchasing an additional 2,965 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other PepsiCo news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,603,634. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.8 %

PEP stock traded down $1.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $164.93. 8,756,033 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,392,291. The company has a market cap of $226.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.86. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $155.83 and a 1-year high of $192.38. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.30.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The firm 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%. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 81.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on PepsiCo in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.38.

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.