Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. Trims Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,899 shares of the company’s stock after selling 725 shares during the quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $251,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Claris Advisors LLC MO grew its stake in PepsiCo by 14.1% during the second quarter. Claris Advisors LLC MO now owns 2,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 5,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 3,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $566,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 46.4% during the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 114,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,098,000 after buying an additional 36,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. grew its position in PepsiCo by 2.5% in the second quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 25,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,342,000 after acquiring an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PEP shares. DZ Bank upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $167.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Citigroup cut their target price on PepsiCo from $168.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on PepsiCo from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on PepsiCo from $140.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.95.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $145.85 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $165.13. The firm has a market cap of $199.43 billion, a PE ratio of 27.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $144.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.03. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.58% and a net margin of 7.82%.The firm had revenue of $23.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.