Wedbush Securities Inc. Lowers Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Wedbush Securities Inc. decreased its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,489 shares of the company’s stock after selling 541 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $6,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 10,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,781 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 1,677,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,142,000 after purchasing an additional 100,410 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at $75,235,000. AllGen Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. AllGen Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 20,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,140,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 333.6% during the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 14,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,191,000 after buying an additional 11,085 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PEP shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced 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, CICC Research reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.88.

PepsiCo Price Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $146.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $149.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $157.21. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.51 and a 1-year high of $183.41. The firm has a market cap of $201.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

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.