Empire Life Investments Inc. Sells 613 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Empire Life Investments Inc. reduced its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,814 shares of the company’s stock after selling 613 shares during the period. Empire Life Investments Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $16,765,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Gill Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 8.7% during the first quarter. Gill Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 605,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,836,000 after acquiring an additional 85,820 shares in the last quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the 1st quarter worth approximately $329,000. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 894,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,083,000 after purchasing an additional 33,161 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $150.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Dbs Bank cut shares of PepsiCo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $153.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $158.73.

PepsiCo Trading Up 1.0%

PEP opened at $139.28 on Monday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $180.91. The firm has a market cap of $190.69 billion, a PE ratio of 25.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $134.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $140.83.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted 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. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.81% and a net margin of 8.23%. The firm had revenue of $22.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 103.64%.

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.