Midwest Trust Co Trims Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Key Points

• Midwest Trust Co trimmed its PepsiCo stake by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 12,149 shares and ending with 365,041 shares worth about $52.4 million.
• PepsiCo beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $1.61 versus $1.55 expected and revenue of $19.44 billion versus $18.89 billion estimated, with revenue up 8.5% year over year.
• The company raised its dividend to $1.48 per share quarterly and also has a $10 billion share repurchase program in place, while analysts currently hold a consensus rating of Hold with a price target around $170.26.

Midwest Trust Co cut its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 365,041 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,149 shares during the quarter. Midwest Trust Co's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $52,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PEP. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company's stock worth $19,875,205,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612,652 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,499,819 shares of the company's stock worth $8,356,155,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079,970 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,617,747 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,912,476,000 after purchasing an additional 958,701 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.3% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,902,664 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,250,290,000 after purchasing an additional 118,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in PepsiCo by 30.0% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company's stock worth $1,207,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995,362 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on PEP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $154.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore boosted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $163.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $170.26.

PepsiCo Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ PEP opened at $154.62 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $171.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $157.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $152.50. The stock has a market cap of $211.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 56.61%. The company had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.48 EPS. PepsiCo's revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. This is a boost from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. PepsiCo's payout ratio is currently 89.32%.

PepsiCo declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

PepsiCo News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo announced a new partnership in the UAE’s Future Industries Lab to support SMEs and young Emiratis, reinforcing its innovation and local investment strategy. MoIAT expands Future Industries Lab with new PepsiCo partnership supporting SMEs and young Emiratis
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo and TalusAg Renewables announced a low-carbon ammonia agreement, an ESG-oriented move that could improve supply-chain sustainability and appeal to investors focused on emissions reduction. PepsiCo and TalusAg Renewables announce low-carbon ammonia attribute agreement to help accelerate fertilizer decarbonization
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple articles highlighted PepsiCo’s continued investment in China and its focus on international growth, product innovation, and cost discipline, which supports the long-term bull case. PepsiCo to 'continue investing' in Chinese market

About PepsiCo

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.