First Horizon Advisors Inc. Sells 1,828 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. cut its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,342 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,828 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $10,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 80.5% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Avion Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 61.7% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on PEP shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.42.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP traded up $0.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $176.15. 3,491,857 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,741,471. The firm has a market cap of $242.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $155.83 and a one year high of $196.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $170.01 and its 200 day moving average is $168.26.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.09%.

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.