PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Sold by United Asset Strategies Inc.

United Asset Strategies Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,218 shares of the company’s stock after selling 297 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 34.0% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,128,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,812,000 after buying an additional 286,169 shares in the last quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 0.7% during the first quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,783,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in PepsiCo by 29.3% in the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 5,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $931,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262 shares during the last quarter. Wsfs Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 117.2% in the 1st quarter. Wsfs Capital Management LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 8.5% during the first quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 26,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,504,000 after buying an additional 2,116 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP stock traded up $1.54 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $168.49. 1,444,736 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,703,607. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $196.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.38. The firm has a market cap of $231.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $27.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.40 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 58.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.67 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $1.265 per share. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PEP shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.92.

PepsiCo 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.