Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lessened its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,308 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,548 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo makes up about 1.7% of Sawgrass Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $13,541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth about $2,729,565,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 19,106.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,588,614 shares of the company's stock valued at $688,017,000 after purchasing an additional 4,564,723 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 106.1% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,514,965 shares of the company's stock worth $527,034,000 after buying an additional 1,809,391 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group reduced 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One equities 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $129.07 on Monday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $127.75 and a one year high of $180.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $133.19 and a 200 day moving average of $143.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.45.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 58.28%. The business had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. PepsiCo's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.41%. PepsiCo's payout ratio is presently 83.68%.

PepsiCo Company 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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