Forte Capital LLC ADV Cuts Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Forte Capital LLC ADV lessened its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,616 shares of the company’s stock after selling 94 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,973,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $519,381,000 after buying an additional 3,026,611 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter worth $329,179,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG lifted its position in PepsiCo by 121.4% during the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,727,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495,586 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in PepsiCo by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,641,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 68.0% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,922,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,371 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup upgraded shares of 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. increased their price target on PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.42.

PepsiCo Price Performance

NASDAQ PEP traded up $0.70 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $176.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,492,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,328,097. The firm has a market capitalization of $242.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $155.83 and a 1-year high of $196.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company’s 50-day moving average is $170.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.36.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm earned $1.50 EPS. PepsiCo’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 3.08%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

About PepsiCo

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.