Private Advisor Group LLC Sells 17,052 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Private Advisor Group LLC lowered its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 168,126 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,052 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $25,565,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cross Staff Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 7,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,204,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 7,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,288,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC lifted its position in PepsiCo by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 5,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $973,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in PepsiCo by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 4,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $733,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. CICC Research restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP opened at $144.10 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.51 and a 52-week high of $183.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $197.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $149.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $162.84.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 EPS 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 paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 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.