BLB&B Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

BLB&B Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,150 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,602 shares during the period. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $3,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PEP. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 293,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,016,000 after purchasing an additional 40,031 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 7,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,304,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 38,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,610,000 after acquiring an additional 1,295 shares during the last quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 68,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,699,000 after purchasing an additional 1,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarius Group LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 5.2% in the third quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 10,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $144.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.51 and a 52-week high of $183.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $151.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $164.26. The company has a market capitalization of $198.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PEP shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a $172.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.47.

PepsiCo 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.