Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Reduces Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,541 shares of the company’s stock after selling 452 shares during the quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,451,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 80.5% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Avion Wealth boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 61.7% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 241 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PEP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.42.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock traded up $0.70 on Friday, hitting $176.15. 3,492,120 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,328,097. The stock has a market capitalization of $242.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $170.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.36. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $155.83 and a 1-year high of $196.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

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.