Merit Financial Group LLC Sells 11,663 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Merit Financial Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 25.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 34,139 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,663 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $5,798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 0.7% during the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 106,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,980,000 after buying an additional 766 shares during the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. grew its position in PepsiCo by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 27,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,608,000 after purchasing an additional 2,140 shares in the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 7.3% in the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $909,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,126,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $360,384,000 after purchasing an additional 21,656 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup raised shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.42.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.4 %

PEP stock traded up $0.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $176.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,491,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,741,471. The company has a market cap of $242.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month high of $196.88. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $170.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This is an increase 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 (DPR) is currently 76.09%.

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.