B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Lowers Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 41.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,983 shares of the company's stock after selling 28,829 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $6,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Collier Financial bought a new position in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PEP. Dbs Bank cut PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. BNP Paribas dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, CICC Research reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Trading Up 1.6%

PEP traded up $2.03 on Tuesday, hitting $131.37. 13,960,301 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,503,657. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.75 and a 12 month high of $180.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.12 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.61 earnings per share. PepsiCo's revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $1.4225 dividend. This is a positive change from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.