Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Buys 5,880 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 249.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,240 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,880 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Collier Financial acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.88.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $146.45 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $200.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $149.08 and its 200-day moving average is $158.73. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $141.51 and a one year high of $183.41.

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

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. 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.