PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Sold by WestEnd Advisors LLC

WestEnd Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 186,595 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,682 shares during the quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $31,691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in PepsiCo by 95,514.1% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,876,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,746,023,000 after acquiring an additional 42,831,405 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $2,519,707,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in PepsiCo by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 26,720,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,827,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,629,947 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the second quarter worth about $360,472,000. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter worth about $329,179,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $179.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $176.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.77.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of PepsiCo stock traded up $0.84 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $173.57. 4,686,661 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,942,578. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $196.88. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $167.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.95. The company has a market cap of $238.57 billion, a PE ratio of 26.42, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.53.

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

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $1.265 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.02%.

PepsiCo Company Profile

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.