Banco Santander S.A. Lowers Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Banco Santander S.A. decreased its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,699 shares of the company’s stock after selling 370 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 621,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,455,000 after purchasing an additional 42,865 shares in the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 7,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272 shares in the last quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,029,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 224.5% in the 4th quarter. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $895,000 after purchasing an additional 10,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 17,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on PEP. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.35.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $154.44 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $160.76. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.51 and a 52-week high of $183.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.81 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. 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 (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS 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 business had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

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.