Welch Group LLC Acquires 2,729 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Welch Group LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 315,840 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,729 shares during the period. PepsiCo makes up approximately 2.2% of Welch Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $47,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 17,113.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,220,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $547,626,000 after acquiring an additional 3,201,676 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,738,429,000 after buying an additional 2,775,679 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,293,049,000 after buying an additional 2,264,445 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 211.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,360,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,632,413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125,059 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PEP. Piper Sandler started coverage on PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $158.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $176.73.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $150.27 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $206.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $153.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.85. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.51 and a 12 month high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 57.32%. Sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.94%.

PepsiCo Company 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.