PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Sold by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lessened its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,552,229 shares of the company’s stock after selling 92,034 shares during the period. PepsiCo comprises about 2.1% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $388,092,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $508,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.1% in the third quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 5,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $973,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Tcfg Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Tcfg Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. BIP Wealth LLC increased its position in PepsiCo by 1.9% during the third quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 3,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $612,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lincoln Capital LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Lincoln Capital LLC now owns 16,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,556,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. BNP Paribas cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of PEP opened at $155.99 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $141.51 and a one year high of $183.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $148.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $161.33. The company has a market capitalization of $213.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.