PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP Shares Sold by Saratoga Research & Investment Management

Saratoga Research & Investment Management cut its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 172,282 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,223 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo comprises 1.3% of Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $24,726,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in PepsiCo by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 66,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,697,000 after acquiring an additional 2,478 shares during the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan increased its stake in PepsiCo by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 52,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,467,000 after acquiring an additional 6,298 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in PepsiCo by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 338,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,524,000 after acquiring an additional 11,088 shares during the last quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc increased its stake in PepsiCo by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 1,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dana Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in PepsiCo by 25.1% during the fourth quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 26,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,745,000 after acquiring an additional 5,240 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on PEP. Evercore upped their price target on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, April 17th. HSBC upped their target price on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on PepsiCo from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $163.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on PepsiCo from $154.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $170.37.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of PEP opened at $149.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $203.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.38. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $171.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $155.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.42.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $19.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.32%.

PepsiCo declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

PepsiCo Profile

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ: PEP) is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.