Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Cuts Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD decreased its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 9.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,887,532 shares of the company’s stock after selling 862,910 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,380,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 80.5% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 77.5% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Fortis Group Advisors LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in PepsiCo during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $182.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $185.53.

Insider Activity at PepsiCo

In related news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total value of $1,000,360.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock traded up $1.73 on Friday, reaching $172.75. The stock had a trading volume of 5,746,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,470,916. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.83 and a 1 year high of $192.29. The company has a market cap of $237.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The business’s 50 day moving average is $168.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.87.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.59 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.66%.

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.