PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Sold by West Paces Advisors Inc.

West Paces Advisors Inc. lessened its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,410 shares of the company’s stock after selling 341 shares during the period. West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 95,514.1% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,876,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,746,023,000 after acquiring an additional 42,831,405 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,519,707,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 26,720,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,827,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,629,947 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 9,623.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,058,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $519,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,026,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $329,179,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup raised PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $176.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.92.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP stock traded up $0.55 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $167.50. 4,497,109 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,746,102. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The company has a market capitalization of $230.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.53. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $196.88.

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

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $1.265 dividend. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.02%.

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.