PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP Shares Sold by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 8.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 154,735 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,395 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $21,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Claris Advisors LLC MO grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 14.1% during the second quarter. Claris Advisors LLC MO now owns 2,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 4.6% during the second quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 5,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 46.4% during the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 114,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,098,000 after buying an additional 36,239 shares during the last quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter valued at $872,000. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 26,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,469,000 after buying an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on PepsiCo from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $179.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday. HSBC upped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $150.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $161.32.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PepsiCo stock opened at $146.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.91. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $160.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $145.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $144.61. The company has a market capitalization of $200.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.82, a PEG ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.42.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 108.17%.

PepsiCo Company Profile

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ: PEP) is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.