Vista Investment Partners LLC Lowers Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Vista Investment Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 72.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,957 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,562 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,043,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Ossiam lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. Ossiam now owns 73,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,192,000 after acquiring an additional 42,793 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 124,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,977,000 after buying an additional 13,461 shares during the last quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,178,000 after buying an additional 6,865 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,899,000. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its position in PepsiCo by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 17,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,604,000 after acquiring an additional 4,825 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $163.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $131.41 on Tuesday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.75 and a 12 month high of $180.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $134.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.73.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The business had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.68%.

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.