PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP Shares Sold by Cascade Financial Partners LLC

Cascade Financial Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 136,532 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,844 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo accounts for about 1.8% of Cascade Financial Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Cascade Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $19,595,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 120.7% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,916,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $830,902,000 after buying an additional 3,235,726 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,207,230,000 after buying an additional 1,995,362 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,875,205,000 after buying an additional 1,612,652 shares during the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 151.7% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 2,597,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,861,000 after buying an additional 1,565,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 406.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,789,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,895,000 after buying an additional 1,436,216 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $149.12 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $155.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.41. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $171.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.The firm had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.89 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.32%.

PepsiCo announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on PEP. Piper Sandler increased their target price on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $163.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.37.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ: PEP) is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.