Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 50.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,472 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,524 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $5,698,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.1% in the third quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $508,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 7,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 5,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $973,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Tcfg Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Tcfg Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 0.4% in the third quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 14,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,547,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $153.50 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $210.53 billion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $162.11. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $141.51 and a one year high of $183.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion for 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%. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. HSBC decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.