Dechtman Wealth Management LLC Reduces Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Dechtman Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,803 shares of the company’s stock after selling 145 shares during the period. PepsiCo comprises 0.1% of Dechtman Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Dechtman Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,738,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775,679 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,293,049,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in PepsiCo by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,280,471,000 after buying an additional 1,376,133 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PEP shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays cut PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $168.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.88.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $145.54 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $149.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $158.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $141.51 and a 12-month high of $183.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company 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 $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.99%.

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.