Howard Capital Management Inc. Sells 5,366 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Key Points

• Howard Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. by 12.8%, selling 5,366 shares and bringing its total ownership to 36,396 shares, valued at approximately $5.46 million.
• Various institutional investors, such as GAMMA Investing LLC and Assenagon Asset Management S.A., significantly increased their stakes in PepsiCo, indicating strong institutional interest.
• PepsiCo reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.12, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a net margin of 8.23% and a projected 8.3 EPS for the current year.

Howard Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 12.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,396 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,366 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $5,457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 19,106.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,588,614 shares of the company's stock worth $688,017,000 after acquiring an additional 4,564,723 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 106.1% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,514,965 shares of the company's stock worth $527,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809,391 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $221,297,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 8.7% in the fourth 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 period. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 292.9% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 1,559,081 shares of the company's stock valued at $228,946,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,315 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $140.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Dbs Bank lowered PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on PepsiCo from $160.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $150.00 to $139.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $158.73.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock traded down $1.03 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $142.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,730,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,992,737. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $180.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $195.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.45. The business's fifty day moving average price is $134.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.98.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a net margin of 8.23% and a return on equity of 57.81%. The firm had revenue of $22.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.28 EPS. The business's revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is currently 103.64%.

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.