Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Increases Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,793 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 593 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,098,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,280,471,000 after buying an additional 1,376,133 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,738,429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,775,679 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,717,069,000 after acquiring an additional 582,254 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth $2,729,565,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $149.67 on Wednesday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.51 and a 1-year high of $183.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $205.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $149.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The business’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PEP. StockNews.com cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. CICC Research reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.88.

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.