PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Purchased by Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.

Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 21,797 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 137 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo makes up 1.1% of Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $3,315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% in the third 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 period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in PepsiCo by 21.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,293,049,000 after buying an additional 2,264,445 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 211.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,847,000 after buying an additional 1,592,343 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 360.0% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,697,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 62.4% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 3,014,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $458,324,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157,835 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of PEP opened at $152.02 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.51 and a fifty-two week high of $183.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $148.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $161.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $208.50 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, HSBC reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.47.

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.