Advisory Alpha LLC Trims Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Advisory Alpha LLC trimmed its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 44.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,508 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,766 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. CICC Research restated a "market perform" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, April 24th. BNP Paribas cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $163.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. One equities 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of PepsiCo stock traded up $0.94 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $131.85. 7,330,525 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,834,792. The stock has a market cap of $180.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $137.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.83. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.75 and a 12-month high of $180.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The company had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.61 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $1.4225 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. PepsiCo's payout ratio is 83.68%.

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.