Exeter Financial LLC Has $3.93 Million Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Exeter Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,166 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. PepsiCo comprises approximately 1.8% of Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $3,930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 33.7% in the first quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 6.0% in the first quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC now owns 16,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,808,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.2% in the first quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 8,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,514,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Safir Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the first quarter valued at about $247,000. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 25.8% in the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,669,000 after purchasing an additional 4,304 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at PepsiCo

In related news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of PepsiCo stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total value of $1,000,360.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at $9,603,634. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $186.38.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP stock traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $166.21. 1,493,750 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,468,416. The company has a market capitalization of $228.50 billion, a PE ratio of 25.07, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.83 and a 12-month high of $192.38. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.50%.

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.