PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP Shares Sold by J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,010 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,040 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $6,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 10,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Avise Financial Cooperative Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at about $363,000. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 52.3% during the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 66,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,510,000 after acquiring an additional 22,754 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 400,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,461,000 after acquiring an additional 17,600 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of PEP stock opened at $141.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $152.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.51. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.48.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 89.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $163.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.58.

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.