Guardian Partners Inc. Buys Shares of 87,833 PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 87,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,871,000. PepsiCo makes up about 1.3% of Guardian Partners Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB lifted 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 worth $398,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,343 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 4,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 216,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,876,000 after purchasing an additional 15,821 shares during the period. 49 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter worth $259,000. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 2,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $145.45 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $149.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.51 and a 12 month high of $183.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The company’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen cut their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $168.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. CICC Research reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.88.

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.