W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. Sells 888 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. decreased its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 25.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,551 shares of the company’s stock after selling 888 shares during the quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 8,406 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 104.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,350,000 after purchasing an additional 870,451 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position 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 period. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,323,000 after purchasing an additional 4,712 shares during the period. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 19.3% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,220 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP opened at $144.58 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $141.51 and a 12-month high of $183.41. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $150.41 and a 200-day moving average of $163.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

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

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

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

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.