PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Sold by D Orazio & Associates Inc.

D Orazio & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 27.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,237 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,253 shares during the quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 93.2% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PEP shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup cut their target price on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, CICC Research reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ PEP opened at $144.58 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $151.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $164.26. The stock has a market cap of $198.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.51 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.82.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.99%.

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.