Private Wealth Partners LLC Trims Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Private Wealth Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 33,314 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,259 shares during the period. Private Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $4,995,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth $2,729,565,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 19,106.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,588,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $688,017,000 after acquiring an additional 4,564,723 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 106.1% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,514,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,034,000 after acquiring an additional 1,809,391 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $129.07 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.75 and a fifty-two week high of $180.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $133.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.28. The company has a market cap of $176.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.28% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.61 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.41%. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 83.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PEP. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $163.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $160.69.

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.