Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Decreases Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. lowered its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,964 shares of the company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $5,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Sunesis Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the third quarter worth approximately $1,026,000. Golden State Equity Partners raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 6.5% in the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 8,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,361,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in PepsiCo by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. now owns 12,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,098,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 15,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, One Day In July LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the third quarter worth approximately $255,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on PEP shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Argus cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Monday, February 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.42.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP traded down $0.23 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $175.91. The company had a trading volume of 4,459,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,806,708. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $241.84 billion, a PE ratio of 26.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $196.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $169.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $1.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

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.