SP Asset Management LLC Lowers Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

SP Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,740 shares of the company’s stock after selling 353 shares during the period. SP Asset Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $4,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth about $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,834,504,000 after acquiring an additional 3,856,193 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,775,679 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,293,049,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 211.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592,343 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays decreased their price target 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a $172.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Price Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $153.88 on Thursday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.51 and a 1-year high of $183.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $161.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results 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. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 77.99%.

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.