Successful Portfolios LLC Cuts Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Successful Portfolios LLC cut its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,199 shares of the company’s stock after selling 120 shares during the quarter. Successful Portfolios LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 80.5% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the first quarter worth $35,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PEP shares. Argus downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $162.89 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.30. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.83 and a fifty-two week high of $192.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $223.94 billion, a PE ratio of 24.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. PepsiCo’s dividend 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.