WASHINGTON TRUST Co Cuts Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lowered its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,117 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,117 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $14,341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in PepsiCo by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 136,936,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,081,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,761,785 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 58,419,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,713,757,000 after purchasing an additional 920,045 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in PepsiCo by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,675,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,301,240,000 after buying an additional 86,695 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in PepsiCo by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,031,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,833,406,000 after acquiring an additional 2,556,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,330,594,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $169.74 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $231.98 billion, a PE ratio of 28.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $153.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $148.83.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $29.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.96 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.92% and a net margin of 8.77%.The business’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.83%.

PepsiCo declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PEP shares. HSBC increased their price target on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $163.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $191.00 price target on PepsiCo in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $161.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $168.00.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ: PEP) is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.