Meridian Wealth Partners LLC Has $200,000 Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Meridian Wealth Partners LLC lessened its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 28.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,315 shares of the company’s stock after selling 526 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stevens Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 791.9% in the 4th quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 24,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,698,000 after buying an additional 21,595 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,996,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,653,000 after buying an additional 152,594 shares during the last quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $885,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. M Holdings Securities Inc. bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $321,000. Finally, Banco de Sabadell S.A raised its stake in PepsiCo by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Banco de Sabadell S.A now owns 13,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,115,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $145.45 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $149.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $159.09. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.51 and a 12 month high of $183.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PEP. Barclays cut PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $168.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. CICC Research restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.88.

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.