PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Sold by Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC

Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 14.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,932 shares of the company’s stock after selling 680 shares during the period. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $688,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,686,139,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 9,623.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,058,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $519,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,026,611 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 121.4% in the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,727,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,586 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,641,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,064 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,520,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345,065 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on PEP shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Argus downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Monday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.15.

Insider Activity

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

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:PEP traded up $1.15 on Monday, reaching $168.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 468,259 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,483,164. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.83 and a 12-month high of $192.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The firm has a market cap of $231.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $173.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.36.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 81.50%.

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.