Riverbridge Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Riverbridge Partners LLC cut its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 86.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,152 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,775 shares during the period. Riverbridge Partners LLC's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $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 fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,717,069,000 after buying an additional 582,254 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after buying an additional 3,856,193 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,729,565,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 8.7% during the 4th 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. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $129.07 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $176.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.45. The company's fifty day moving average is $133.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.06. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.75 and a fifty-two week high of $180.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 58.28%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. Analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This is a positive change from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.41%. PepsiCo's payout ratio is presently 83.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PEP. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Dbs Bank cut shares of PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $163.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $160.69.

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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