Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Sells 5,293 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. reduced its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 6.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,157 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,293 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $10,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stratos Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 56.1% during the first quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 19,446 shares of the company's stock worth $2,916,000 after acquiring an additional 6,987 shares during the period. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.0% during the first quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,880 shares of the company's stock worth $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Investment Partners LTD. increased its stake in PepsiCo by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 11,343 shares of the company's stock worth $1,701,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its stake in PepsiCo by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 97,409 shares of the company's stock worth $14,606,000 after purchasing an additional 7,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in PepsiCo by 27.6% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 42,387 shares of the company's stock worth $6,356,000 after purchasing an additional 9,177 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of PepsiCo stock traded down $0.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $135.26. 7,958,581 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,077,247. The stock has a market cap of $185.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.89, a PEG ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.83. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $180.91. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $131.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $141.65.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $1.4225 dividend. This is a positive change from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo's payout ratio is 83.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PEP. Citigroup dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $150.00 to $139.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group lowered 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. Finally, Dbs Bank cut PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $158.19.

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.