GAMMA Investing LLC Raises Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 31.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,095 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,783 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $6,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Claris Advisors LLC MO grew its position in PepsiCo by 14.1% during the second quarter. Claris Advisors LLC MO now owns 2,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 5,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 46.4% in the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 114,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,098,000 after purchasing an additional 36,239 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 25,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,342,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the period. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC increased its position in PepsiCo by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 26,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,469,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on PEP. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $152.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Citigroup lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $168.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $172.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. DZ Bank upgraded PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $167.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $158.50.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $151.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.91. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $160.15. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.51. The firm has a market cap of $206.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.75, a PEG ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.42.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.03. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.58% and a net margin of 7.82%.The firm had revenue of $23.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 108.17%.

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.