Aufman Associates Inc Has $264,000 Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Aufman Associates Inc lessened its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 19.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,737 shares of the company’s stock after selling 416 shares during the quarter. Aufman Associates Inc’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,280,471,000 after buying an additional 1,376,133 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,738,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775,679 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $5,170,529,000 after purchasing an additional 543,558 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in PepsiCo by 18.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $2,729,565,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PEP shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. CICC Research restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.88.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $149.27 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $149.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $158.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.51 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The firm has a market cap of $204.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.48, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The firm 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 company’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. 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 3.63%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.