PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Stock Position Decreased by First Merchants Corp

First Merchants Corp reduced its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 23.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,393 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,827 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $9,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 15.8% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 293,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,016,000 after acquiring an additional 40,031 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in PepsiCo by 211.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,343 shares during the last quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 3.8% in the third quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 89,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,142,000 after purchasing an additional 3,297 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.6% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,162,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2.7% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 7,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,247,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP opened at $144.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The firm has a market cap of $198.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $150.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $163.54. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.51 and a fifty-two week high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on PEP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.47.

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.