PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Sold by Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC

Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 14.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,535 shares of the company’s stock after selling 774 shares during the quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth about $224,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 59,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,031,000 after buying an additional 6,574 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth about $9,268,000. Trilogy Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 3,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 3,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PEP. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on 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 target price on PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ PEP opened at $130.03 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. The business’s 50 day moving average is $136.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.25. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.75 and a 12-month high of $180.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.38%. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.