Appleton Partners Inc. MA Sells 1,891 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA reduced its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 52,406 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,891 shares during the quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $7,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 93.2% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $144.58 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $141.51 and a one year high of $183.41. The company has a market cap of $198.29 billion, a PE ratio of 21.32, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $151.80 and a 200-day moving average of $164.26.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its 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 57.32% and a net margin of 10.18%. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 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 dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BNP Paribas lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. StockNews.com cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.47.

PepsiCo 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.