Choate Investment Advisors Purchases 2,639 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Choate Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 142,176 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,639 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in PepsiCo were worth $21,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 44.6% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 8,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after acquiring an additional 2,684 shares in the last quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in PepsiCo by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $924,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in PepsiCo by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. now owns 7,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,205,000 after buying an additional 1,384 shares during the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Finally, Carret Asset Management LLC boosted its position in PepsiCo by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 65,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,986,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a $172.00 target price on the stock. CICC Research reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. BNP Paribas dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.59.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ PEP opened at $148.59 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $148.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $159.99. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $141.51 and a one year high of $183.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $203.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

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.