Ascent Group LLC Cuts Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Ascent Group LLC lowered its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 15.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,197 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,640 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $5,504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth $224,000. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 3,546 shares of the company's stock worth $539,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 59,392 shares of the company's stock worth $9,031,000 after acquiring an additional 6,574 shares during the period. LexAurum Advisors LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. LexAurum Advisors LLC now owns 2,710 shares of the company's stock worth $412,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 5,360 shares of the company's stock worth $815,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Up 1.6%

PepsiCo stock traded up $2.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $131.37. The stock had a trading volume of 13,960,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,503,657. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.75 and a 12 month high of $180.91. The company has a market capitalization of $180.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $139.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. PepsiCo's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.33%. This is an increase from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo's payout ratio is 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.