Essex LLC Trims Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Essex LLC cut its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 10.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,363 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,009 shares during the quarter. Essex LLC's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $2,729,565,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 19,106.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,588,614 shares of the company's stock worth $688,017,000 after buying an additional 4,564,723 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at about $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after acquiring an additional 3,856,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 106.1% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,514,965 shares of the company's stock worth $527,034,000 after acquiring an additional 1,809,391 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup cut their target price on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $159.75.

PepsiCo Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of PEP opened at $131.04 on Monday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $180.91. The stock's 50-day moving average is $131.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $179.67 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.46.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. 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 dividend yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo's payout ratio is presently 83.68%.

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.

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