Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 775 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Sentry Investment Management LLC reduced its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,219 shares of the company’s stock after selling 775 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PEP. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Monday, February 12th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Argus lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.92.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ PEP traded down $1.33 during trading on Monday, reaching $166.77. 2,227,809 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,724,456. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $229.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.40. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.83 and a 12-month high of $196.88.

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

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $1.265 dividend. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.02%.

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.