Norden Group LLC Purchases 174,171 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Norden Group LLC raised its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3,345.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 179,377 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 174,171 shares during the quarter. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $31,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,001,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,227,287,000 after buying an additional 578,083 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $2,686,139,000. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,641,389,000 after buying an additional 1,470,064 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,520,909,000 after buying an additional 1,345,065 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,421,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,430,250,000 after buying an additional 1,105,127 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at PepsiCo

In related news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $162.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $223.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $172.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.24. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $155.83 and a one year high of $192.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. Equities analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $1.355 dividend. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 81.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on PEP. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays cut their target price on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Argus cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.64.

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.