Convergence Financial LLC Has $418,000 Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Convergence Financial LLC cut its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 9.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,790 shares of the company’s stock after selling 298 shares during the period. Convergence Financial LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at $2,729,565,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in PepsiCo by 19,106.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,588,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $688,017,000 after purchasing an additional 4,564,723 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 106.1% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,514,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,034,000 after buying an additional 1,809,391 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $131.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $179.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $131.83 and its 200-day moving average is $142.93. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $180.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.34%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 83.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group cut their target price on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $159.75.

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.