Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 34.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 445 shares of the company’s stock after selling 236 shares during the period. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $67,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth $2,729,565,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 19,106.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,588,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $688,017,000 after acquiring an additional 4,564,723 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 106.1% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,514,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,034,000 after acquiring an additional 1,809,391 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $221,297,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,280,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,133 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $143.24 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $132.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $180.91. The company has a market cap of $196.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.09, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.45.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $22.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.28 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 8.23% and a return on equity of 57.81%. PepsiCo’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.28 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $1.4225 dividend. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 103.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on PEP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Dbs Bank lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.93.

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.