Fayez Sarofim & Co Decreases Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Key Points

• Fayez Sarofim & Co cut its stake in PepsiCo by 29.6% in Q3, selling 661,393 shares and leaving it with 1,576,443 shares worth about $221.4 million (≈0.12% of the company).
• PepsiCo announced a $10 billion share repurchase authorization (up to ~4.7% of outstanding shares) and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.4225 ($5.69 annualized, ~3.6% yield).
• The company modestly beat quarterly expectations (EPS $2.26 vs. $2.24; revenue $29.34B), while analysts have raised price targets but the consensus remains an average rating of Hold with a $169 target.

Fayez Sarofim & Co decreased its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 29.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,576,443 shares of the company's stock after selling 661,393 shares during the quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co owned approximately 0.12% of PepsiCo worth $221,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PEP. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 2,989 shares of the company's stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.7% during the third quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,165,159 shares of the company's stock valued at $163,657,000 after acquiring an additional 41,253 shares during the last quarter. Delta Global Management LP lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 605.2% in the third quarter. Delta Global Management LP now owns 136,303 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,142,000 after acquiring an additional 116,974 shares in the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% in the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 39,346 shares of the company's stock worth $5,526,000 after acquiring an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the third quarter worth approximately $4,112,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on PEP shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $154.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Evercore boosted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $152.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, HSBC upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $152.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $169.00.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of PEP opened at $159.88 on Monday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $149.71. The company has a market capitalization of $218.50 billion, a PE ratio of 26.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.39.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 57.92%. The firm had revenue of $29.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $28.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is 94.83%.

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.

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