Essex Financial Services Inc. Cuts Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lowered its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 31,714 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,091 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $4,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in PepsiCo by 15.8% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 293,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,016,000 after buying an additional 40,031 shares during the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 4.6% during the third quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $937,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $749,000. Willis Investment Counsel grew its position in PepsiCo by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 194,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,120,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in PepsiCo by 49.7% during the 3rd quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.2 %

PepsiCo stock opened at $144.35 on Tuesday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.51 and a 12 month high of $183.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $197.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $151.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $164.06.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PEP. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. CICC Research reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday. BNP Paribas dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.