Voya Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Voya Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 514,040 shares of the company’s stock after selling 38,668 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $78,165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ossiam grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. Ossiam now owns 73,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,192,000 after acquiring an additional 42,793 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in PepsiCo by 104.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 12.8% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,236,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,031,000 after purchasing an additional 61,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 147.6% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 14,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,229,000 after buying an additional 8,759 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on PEP. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. CICC Research restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 7th. HSBC decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.25.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $135.31 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $147.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $134.53 and a 52 week high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.04). PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The business had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. Analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.99%.

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.