Grandfield & Dodd LLC Decreases Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Grandfield & Dodd LLC lessened its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,821 shares of the company’s stock after selling 107 shares during the quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $3,119,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,686,139,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 9,623.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,058,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $519,381,000 after acquiring an additional 3,026,611 shares in the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 121.4% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,727,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495,586 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,641,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,520,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345,065 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $163.95. 10,258,744 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,524,253. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $171.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.99. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.83 and a 1 year high of $192.38. The stock has a market cap of $225.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The firm had revenue of $22.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. 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 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PEP. Argus lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at PepsiCo

In other PepsiCo news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PepsiCo Company 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.