Evolution Advisers Inc. Buys 200 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Evolution Advisers Inc. increased its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 58.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 542 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Evolution Advisers Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $94,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PEP. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,423,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,736,000 after purchasing an additional 920,032 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,878,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,859,812,000 after purchasing an additional 595,357 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,641,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,064 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,316,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,239,629,000 after purchasing an additional 608,321 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,774,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,147,922,000 after purchasing an additional 142,243 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.4 %

PEP stock traded down $0.73 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $176.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,436,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,872,530. The company has a market cap of $242.85 billion, a PE ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.53. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month high of $196.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $169.22 and its 200-day moving average is $167.76.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $1.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on PEP. StockNews.com downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Argus downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.42.

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.