Brown Advisory Inc. Trims Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Brown Advisory Inc. reduced its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 352,055 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,751 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc.'s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $52,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in PepsiCo by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company's stock worth $20,280,471,000 after buying an additional 1,376,133 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company's stock worth $4,717,069,000 after buying an additional 582,254 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,729,565,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in PepsiCo by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,403,395 shares of the company's stock worth $2,494,300,000 after buying an additional 1,306,818 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in PepsiCo by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,062,857 shares of the company's stock worth $2,108,585,000 after buying an additional 49,699 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PepsiCo stock traded down $0.56 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $134.48. The company had a trading volume of 7,759,078 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,075,326. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $131.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.93. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $180.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.38 billion, a PE ratio of 19.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.83.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 58.28%. The company had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.61 EPS. PepsiCo's revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This is a boost from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo's payout ratio is 83.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PEP shares. Dbs Bank lowered shares of PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $159.75.

About PepsiCo

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.