Northern Financial Advisors Inc Sells 148 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Northern Financial Advisors Inc reduced its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,316 shares of the company’s stock after selling 148 shares during the quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,073,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 9,623.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,058,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $519,381,000 after buying an additional 3,026,611 shares during the period. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter valued at about $329,179,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 121.4% in the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,727,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,586 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,641,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 68.0% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,922,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,371 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $178.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,082,716 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,639,854. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.83 and a 1 year high of $196.88. The company has a market capitalization of $244.96 billion, a PE ratio of 26.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.70.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on PEP shares. Argus lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.42.

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.