Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 21,995 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 873,488 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,995 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned about 0.06% of PepsiCo worth $148,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 7.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,547,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,234,400,000 after buying an additional 905,468 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,673,632,000 after buying an additional 700,092 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in PepsiCo by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,403,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,221,089,000 after buying an additional 561,465 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,130,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $846,030,000 after buying an additional 57,322 shares during the period. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch AG raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 67.2% during the first quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 4,560,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $798,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,832,385 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $179.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $183.92.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $175.06. 5,097,170 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,492,675. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $172.13. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $158.03 and a one year high of $183.41. The company has a market cap of $240.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 57.32%. The company had revenue of $23.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.86 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 79.94%.

PepsiCo Company Profile

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.