Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Sells 4,232 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. cut its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 323,864 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,232 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $55,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 2.7% in the third quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at PepsiCo

In other PepsiCo news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,603,634. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP traded down $2.71 on Thursday, hitting $179.38. 1,384,226 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,460,876. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $155.83 and a 52 week high of $192.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.00. The company has a market cap of $246.61 billion, a PE ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.52. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.17 earnings per share for the current 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. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.09%.

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.