Tranquility Partners LLC Reduces Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Tranquility Partners LLC lowered its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,730 shares of the company’s stock after selling 207 shares during the period. Tranquility Partners LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $973,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 95,514.1% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,876,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,746,023,000 after buying an additional 42,831,405 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 26,720,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,827,240,000 after buying an additional 4,629,947 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,423,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,736,000 after buying an additional 920,032 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 3.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,878,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,859,812,000 after buying an additional 595,357 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,519,707,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup upgraded PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $185.00 to $176.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.92.

PepsiCo Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:PEP traded up $1.98 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $169.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,007,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,725,734. The company has a market capitalization of $232.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.53. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month high of $196.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $168.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.37.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $27.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.40 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 58.03%. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.67 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $1.265 per share. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 77.02%.

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.