Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC Acquires Shares of 2,284 PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% during the third 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,497,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,170,529,000 after buying an additional 543,558 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after buying an additional 3,856,193 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,013,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,130,841,000 after buying an additional 689,383 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 21.1% during the third 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. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a $172.00 price objective on the stock. CICC Research restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.35.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $154.44 on Monday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.51 and a 1-year high of $183.41. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $148.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $160.76. The company has a market capitalization of $211.81 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

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.