Clarus Group Inc. Sells 666 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Clarus Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 13.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,314 shares of the company’s stock after selling 666 shares during the period. Clarus Group Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in PepsiCo by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 99,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,968,000 after purchasing an additional 8,406 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of 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 raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 34,633 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in 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 during the period. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in PepsiCo by 19.3% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,220 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $144.35 on Tuesday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $151.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.06. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $141.51 and a 12-month high of $183.41. The company has a market capitalization of $197.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. 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 note on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.47.

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.