Accredited Investors Inc. Decreases Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Accredited Investors Inc. lessened its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,298 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,344 shares during the quarter. Accredited Investors Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth $2,729,565,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at about $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in PepsiCo by 18.1% during 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 buying an additional 3,856,193 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 21.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,293,049,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,280,471,000 after buying an additional 1,376,133 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $145.38 on Thursday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $138.33 and a fifty-two week high of $183.41. The company has a market capitalization of $199.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.13.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. Analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on PEP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. CICC Research reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lowered PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $168.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.88.

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.