Focused Investors LLC Has $83.90 Million Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Focused Investors LLC cut its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 551,750 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,250 shares during the period. PepsiCo accounts for approximately 2.7% of Focused Investors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Focused Investors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $83,899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 104.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,350,000 after purchasing an additional 870,451 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,323,000 after acquiring an additional 4,712 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 11.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 350,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,549,000 after purchasing an additional 34,633 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 19.3% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,236,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,031,000 after purchasing an additional 61,541 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $145.45 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.09. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.51 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on PEP. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. BNP Paribas lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $168.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $169.88.

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.