Harfst & Associates Inc. Has $272,000 Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Harfst & Associates Inc. decreased its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,790 shares of the company’s stock after selling 95 shares during the period. Harfst & Associates Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $272,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 99,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,968,000 after acquiring an additional 8,406 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 104.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,350,000 after buying an additional 870,451 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 350,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,549,000 after buying an additional 34,633 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,323,000 after buying an additional 4,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,493,000 after buying an additional 5,220 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PepsiCo stock opened at $151.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $207.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $141.51 and a one year high of $183.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $161.80.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. PepsiCo’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 77.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. HSBC lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.47.

About PepsiCo

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.