Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. Sells 8,608 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 49.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,945 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,608 shares during the quarter. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on PEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Dbs Bank lowered PepsiCo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Down 1.6%

PEP stock opened at $129.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $177.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.45. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.75 and a twelve month high of $180.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $134.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released 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). The company had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 58.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.61 EPS. Analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.4225 per share. 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. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 83.68%.

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.