ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,911 shares of the company’s stock after selling 205 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 95,514.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 42,831,405 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $2,519,707,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in PepsiCo by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 26,720,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,827,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,629,947 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 9,623.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,058,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $519,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,026,611 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo in the third quarter valued at $329,179,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup raised shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Argus downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.92.

PepsiCo Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:PEP traded up $1.86 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $174.13. 6,636,400 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,735,731. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $239.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.53. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.83 and a 52-week high of $196.88. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.45.

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

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $1.265 per share. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 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.