Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. Decreases Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. reduced its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 47.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,766 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,332 shares during the period. Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in PepsiCo by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,423,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,121,736,000 after purchasing an additional 920,032 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in PepsiCo by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,878,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,859,812,000 after purchasing an additional 595,357 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in PepsiCo by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,641,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,064 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in PepsiCo by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,316,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,239,629,000 after purchasing an additional 608,321 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in PepsiCo by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,774,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,147,922,000 after purchasing an additional 142,243 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup raised shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.92.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP stock traded down $5.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $171.22. The company had a trading volume of 9,023,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,769,279. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $168.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The company has a market capitalization of $235.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.53. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.83 and a 12-month high of $196.88.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $27.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.40 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 58.03%. The firm’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $1.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.02%.

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.