Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 774 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 17.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,309 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 774 shares during the quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the third quarter worth $28,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the third quarter worth $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 93.2% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP stock opened at $143.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.70. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.51 and a 1 year high of $183.41. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $163.20. The stock has a market cap of $196.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.47.

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.