Alliancebernstein L.P. Decreases Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Alliancebernstein L.P. cut its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 14.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,959,440 shares of the company’s stock after selling 338,771 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.14% of PepsiCo worth $297,952,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in PepsiCo by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,738,429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,775,679 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,497,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,170,529,000 after purchasing an additional 543,558 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,729,565,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $149.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $149.28 and a 200 day moving average of $157.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The company has a market capitalization of $205.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $141.51 and a 52 week high of $183.41.

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

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on PEP. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BNP Paribas reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $169.88.

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.