Napatree Capital LLC Grows Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Napatree Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 18.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,185 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the quarter. Napatree Capital LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $636,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 211.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592,343 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.0% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 4,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 7.9% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 216,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,876,000 after purchasing an additional 15,821 shares in the last quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the third quarter valued at $259,000. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC lifted its position in PepsiCo by 23.2% in the third quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 2,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays downgraded PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $168.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup cut their target price on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a $172.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $169.88.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PepsiCo stock opened at $145.45 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $149.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $159.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $141.51 and a 52 week high of $183.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52.

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

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

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.