Opes Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Opes Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,748 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Opes Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 411,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,939,000 after purchasing an additional 19,772 shares during the last quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 57,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,484,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 187,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,920,000 after purchasing an additional 4,137 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 210,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,665,000 after purchasing an additional 2,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 6,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PEP. StockNews.com raised PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $182.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.53.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $177.34 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $243.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $171.13. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.83 and a 12-month high of $183.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.59 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.34%. The company’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.66%.

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.