UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Purchases 1,679 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lifted its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,554 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,679 shares during the quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $4,190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 2.0% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 4,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $777,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 4,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $723,000 after buying an additional 1,591 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position in PepsiCo by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.2% in the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 2,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $145.54 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $149.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $158.50. The company has a market capitalization of $199.61 billion, a PE ratio of 20.94, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $141.51 and a 52 week high of $183.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 company posted $1.78 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 3.72%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.88.

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.