Welch Group LLC Sells 33,688 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Welch Group LLC cut its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 330,181 shares of the company’s stock after selling 33,688 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $46,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 136,936,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,081,034,000 after acquiring an additional 1,761,785 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in PepsiCo by 1.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 58,419,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,713,757,000 after purchasing an additional 920,045 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in PepsiCo by 0.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,675,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,301,240,000 after purchasing an additional 86,695 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 9.7% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,031,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,833,406,000 after purchasing an additional 2,556,163 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the second quarter worth $2,330,594,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $147.05 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.07 billion, a PE ratio of 27.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.42. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $160.15.

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

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 108.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Bank of America raised their target price on PepsiCo from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Loop Capital set a $164.00 price target on PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on PepsiCo from $163.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $158.75.

PepsiCo Profile

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ: PEP) is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.