PFG Investments LLC Sells 8,970 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

PFG Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 12.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 63,346 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,970 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $9,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in PepsiCo by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,875,205,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612,652 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,499,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,356,155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079,970 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 14,857.8% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 49,252,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,068,777,000 after purchasing an additional 48,923,629 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,617,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,814,835,000 after purchasing an additional 360,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 28,090,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,031,646,000 after buying an additional 295,955 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PEP shares. Wall Street Zen cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $178.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on PepsiCo from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $163.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $165.00.

Key Stories Impacting PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS said defensive dividend names like PepsiCo could be ready for a comeback as investors look beyond the tech-led rally, which may help support demand for the stock. Article
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo continues to be viewed as a high-quality dividend stock, with recent commentary highlighting it as an attractive dividend aristocrat and a stable defensive holding. Article
• Positive Sentiment: The company also announced a management promotion in Eastern Europe, which signals continued operational execution and regional leadership continuity. Article

PepsiCo Price Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $144.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $151.76. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.96 and a 1 year high of $171.48.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.48 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $1.48 dividend. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 92.94%.

About PepsiCo

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.