Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Sells 2,599 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC cut its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 34.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,929 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,599 shares during the period. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $750,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 9.2% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 99,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,968,000 after acquiring an additional 8,406 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in PepsiCo by 104.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,350,000 after purchasing an additional 870,451 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 11.0% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 350,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,549,000 after purchasing an additional 34,633 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,323,000 after buying an additional 4,712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in PepsiCo by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,493,000 after buying an additional 5,220 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on PEP. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday. They set a $172.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $144.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $198.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $151.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $164.26. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.51 and a 1 year high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

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.