Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 324 PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PEP. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cassia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Argus downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.92.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP opened at $174.13 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $168.68 and a 200-day moving average of $167.45. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.83 and a 52-week high of $196.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $239.34 billion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $27.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.40 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 58.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.67 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $1.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 77.02%.

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.