Alley Investment Management Company LLC Sells 36,128 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Alley Investment Management Company LLC reduced its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 95.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,702 shares of the company’s stock after selling 36,128 shares during the quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ariston Services Group bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $303,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 158,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,045,000 after purchasing an additional 12,290 shares during the last quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC now owns 19,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,968,000 after acquiring an additional 2,122 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after acquiring an additional 3,856,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 9,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,439,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on PEP shares. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a $172.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.47.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $155.99 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $148.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.33. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.51 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The stock has a market cap of $213.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

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 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

PepsiCo 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.