Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. increased its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 622.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,603 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 30,674 shares during the period. PepsiCo accounts for about 1.4% of Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $5,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,499,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,356,155,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079,970 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,330,594,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,617,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,912,476,000 after purchasing an additional 958,701 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,902,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,250,290,000 after purchasing an additional 118,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in PepsiCo by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,207,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995,362 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $150.88 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $158.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $149.93. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.20 billion, a PE ratio of 25.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.39.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 57.92%. The company had revenue of $29.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $164.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $152.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Argus upgraded shares of PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $169.00.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ: PEP) is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.