Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV Purchases Shares of 6,077 PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $924,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,280,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,133 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,738,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775,679 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,717,069,000 after purchasing an additional 582,254 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in PepsiCo by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,834,504,000 after buying an additional 3,856,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,729,565,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $149.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $149.30 and a 200-day moving average of $157.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.51 and a 12 month high of $183.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.27 billion, a PE ratio of 21.54, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released 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 firm had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PEP. CICC Research restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $169.88.

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.