Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Trims Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 51.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,748 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,753 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,165,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,423,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,736,000 after buying an additional 920,032 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in PepsiCo by 3.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,878,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,859,812,000 after purchasing an additional 595,357 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in PepsiCo by 17.9% in 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,316,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,239,629,000 after purchasing an additional 608,321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2.1% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,774,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,147,922,000 after buying an additional 142,243 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ PEP traded up $0.70 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $176.15. The company had a trading volume of 3,492,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,328,097. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $170.14 and its 200 day moving average is $168.36. The company 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 fifty-two week low of $155.83 and a fifty-two week 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.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. 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 company posted $1.50 EPS. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 76.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Finally, 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 report on Monday, March 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.42.

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.