PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Sold by Sandbox Financial Partners LLC

Sandbox Financial Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 13.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,764 shares of the company’s stock after selling 264 shares during the period. Sandbox Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 95,514.1% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,876,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,746,023,000 after acquiring an additional 42,831,405 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,519,707,000. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 26,720,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,827,240,000 after acquiring an additional 4,629,947 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $360,472,000. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $329,179,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP traded up $1.44 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $175.01. 5,710,410 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,942,093. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.99. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $196.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $240.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

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

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st will be given a $1.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PEP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $176.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. StockNews.com downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.77.

PepsiCo Company 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.