Advisors Asset Management Inc. Reduces Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 93,749 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,006 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $14,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,738,429,000 after buying an additional 2,775,679 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,497,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,170,529,000 after buying an additional 543,558 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,013,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,130,841,000 after purchasing an additional 689,383 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,293,049,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,445 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. BNP Paribas reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.59.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $151.34 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $148.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $159.75. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.51 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The company has a market capitalization of $207.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

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.