Smith Group Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 28.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,586 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,450 shares during the quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $6,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 3,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $693,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 370,122 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,747,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $405,000. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 3,159 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on PEP. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded 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. Barclays dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. BNP Paribas began coverage on PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.64.

PepsiCo Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:PEP traded up $1.79 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $164.39. 4,208,217 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,996,291. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $172.15 and its 200-day moving average is $170.10. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.83 and a 12-month high of $192.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $1.355 dividend. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.