Romano Brothers AND Company Has $3.43 Million Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Romano Brothers AND Company raised its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 7.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,585 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,294 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $3,428,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,001,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,227,287,000 after purchasing an additional 578,083 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at $2,686,139,000. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,470,064 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,520,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345,065 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,421,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,430,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,127 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total value of $1,000,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ PEP opened at $164.93 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.83 and a 1 year high of $192.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $226.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.80, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $173.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.31.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $1.355 dividend. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 81.50%.

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.