Quilter Plc Decreases Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Quilter Plc lessened its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 14.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,651 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,165 shares during the quarter. Quilter Plc's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in PepsiCo by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company's stock worth $20,280,471,000 after buying an additional 1,376,133 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company's stock worth $4,717,069,000 after acquiring an additional 582,254 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in PepsiCo by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company's stock worth $3,834,504,000 after acquiring an additional 3,856,193 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,729,565,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,306,818 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $159.75.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ PEP opened at $128.22 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $180.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13. The company has a fifty day moving average of $132.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $143.22.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.28% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.81 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.61 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $1.4225 dividend. This is a positive change from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.44%. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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