Latitude Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Latitude Advisors LLC cut its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,390 shares of the company’s stock after selling 182 shares during the quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 59.4% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 993,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,747,000 after buying an additional 370,122 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in PepsiCo by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,747,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth approximately $405,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 13,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,091,000 after buying an additional 3,159 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Argus lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.92.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PepsiCo stock traded up $1.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $168.56. 552,905 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,676,862. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $168.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $167.37. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.83 and a 1 year high of $196.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $231.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 58.03%. The business had revenue of $27.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $1.265 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.02%.

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.