PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Sold by Lountzis Asset Management LLC

Lountzis Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 38,509 shares of the company’s stock after selling 562 shares during the period. PepsiCo comprises approximately 2.5% of Lountzis Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Lountzis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $5,908,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in PepsiCo by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,738,429,000 after buying an additional 2,775,679 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,497,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,170,529,000 after acquiring an additional 543,558 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,360,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,632,413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125,059 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,293,049,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,098,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,057,359,000 after purchasing an additional 313,468 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PEP shares. HSBC decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. BNP Paribas lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PepsiCo stock opened at $145.81 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $199.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $149.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $162.60. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.51 and a 1 year high of $183.41.

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

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

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.