Kelly Financial Group LLC Reduces Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Kelly Financial Group LLC cut its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 13.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,132 shares of the company’s stock after selling 345 shares during the quarter. Kelly Financial Group LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tcfg Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Tcfg Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. TAGStone Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. TAGStone Capital Inc. now owns 2,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $388,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 7,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,171,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on PEP. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $130.85 on Friday. 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 12-month low of $127.75 and a 12-month high of $180.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $134.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $145.20.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The company had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.61 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.35%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.68%.

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.