First National Bank of Omaha Acquires Shares of 138,529 PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

First National Bank of Omaha bought a new position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 138,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,455,000. PepsiCo accounts for approximately 1.2% of First National Bank of Omaha’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 107.1% in the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC lifted its position in PepsiCo by 667.7% in the 3rd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the third quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $161.92 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $150.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.51. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $171.48. The company has a market capitalization of $221.29 billion, a PE ratio of 26.99, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.92% and a net margin of 8.77%.The firm had revenue of $29.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.83%.

PepsiCo announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Evercore raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $152.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $156.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $167.83.

PepsiCo Profile

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ: PEP) is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.