LGT Capital Partners LTD. Acquires 40,415 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

LGT Capital Partners LTD. lifted its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 15.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 293,820 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,415 shares during the period. PepsiCo accounts for approximately 1.5% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $49,902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,747,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.4% during the third quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 13,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Marion Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Marion Wealth Management now owns 7,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,340,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 20.1% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 59,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,146,000 after acquiring an additional 10,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Widmann Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 7.1% during the third quarter. Widmann Financial Services Inc. now owns 8,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,356,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup raised shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $179.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Monday, February 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.77.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ PEP traded up $1.44 on Thursday, reaching $175.01. 5,710,410 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,942,093. The firm has a market cap of $240.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $168.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.99. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.83 and a fifty-two week high of $196.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.85.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $27.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.40 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 58.03%. The company’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.67 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st will be given a $1.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.02%.

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.