Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Sells 5,214 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lessened its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,032 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,214 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $8,216,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 4,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 59.8% during the third quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 4,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $723,000 after buying an additional 1,591 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 7.1% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 5.2% in the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 2,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $465,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 118 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 equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup cut their target price on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.88.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $145.54 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.51 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $149.09 and its 200 day moving average is $158.50. The company has a market cap of $199.61 billion, a PE ratio of 20.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52.

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

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio 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.