PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Sold by Willis Investment Counsel

Willis Investment Counsel cut its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 196,196 shares of the company’s stock after selling 86 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo accounts for 2.0% of Willis Investment Counsel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $29,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PEP. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,729,565,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 19,106.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,588,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $688,017,000 after purchasing an additional 4,564,723 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 106.1% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,514,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809,391 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on PEP. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays dropped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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. Citigroup dropped their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.69.

PepsiCo Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $132.30 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.75 and a 1 year high of $180.91. 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 company has a market capitalization of $181.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s fifty day moving average is $134.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $145.42.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.61 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.