Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. Grows Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 94,531 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,904 shares during the period. PepsiCo makes up about 2.1% of Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $14,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.88.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $148.11 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average of $148.97 and a 200 day moving average of $159.50. The firm has a market cap of $203.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.51 and a 1 year high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

PepsiCo 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.