PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Sold by Harbor Investment Advisory LLC

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC cut its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 14.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,204 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,232 shares during the quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PEP. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ PEP traded down $0.11 on Wednesday, reaching $131.74. 6,512,913 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,561,583. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.75 and a fifty-two week high of $180.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $180.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $137.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $146.72.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last posted its 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). The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo's payout ratio 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.