PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP Holdings Cut by Cascade Financial Partners LLC

Key Points

• Cascade Financial Partners LLC reduced its PepsiCo stake by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 10,844 shares and leaving it with 136,532 shares valued at about $19.6 million.
• PepsiCo reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.61 beating estimates and revenue of $19.44 billion topping expectations, while revenue rose 8.5% year over year.
• The company also raised its dividend to $1.48 per share quarterly and authorized a $10 billion share buyback, signaling ongoing capital returns to shareholders.

Cascade Financial Partners LLC trimmed its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 136,532 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,844 shares during the period. PepsiCo comprises about 1.8% of Cascade Financial Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Cascade Financial Partners LLC's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $19,595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PEP. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 1st quarter worth about $251,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 138.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,527 shares of the company's stock worth $862,000 after acquiring an additional 3,790 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 38,164 shares of the company's stock worth $5,039,000 after acquiring an additional 3,502 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 45.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 536,133 shares of the company's stock worth $70,789,000 after acquiring an additional 167,707 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $149.12 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $155.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $152.41. The company has a market capitalization of $203.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. PepsiCo's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. This is a positive change from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is 89.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PEP. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. HSBC increased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped 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 report on Thursday, April 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $170.37.

PepsiCo Company 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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