Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Lowers Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. cut its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 51.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,748 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,753 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 2.7% during the third quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Capital Investment Counsel Inc boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 4,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.42.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:PEP traded up $0.70 on Friday, hitting $176.15. 3,492,120 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,328,097. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $170.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $168.36. The company has a market cap of $242.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $155.83 and a 52 week high of $196.88.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

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.