Zhang Financial LLC Trims Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Zhang Financial LLC reduced its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,780 shares of the company’s stock after selling 458 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth $2,729,565,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 19,106.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,588,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $688,017,000 after purchasing an additional 4,564,723 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 106.1% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,514,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809,391 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $163.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of PEP stock opened at $129.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $135.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.63. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.75 and a fifty-two week high of $180.91.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 83.68%.

PepsiCo 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.