O Brien Wealth Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

O Brien Wealth Partners LLC lowered its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 51.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 526 shares of the company’s stock after selling 548 shares during the period. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $92,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its position in PepsiCo by 80.5% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 70 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 acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $162.89 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $173.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.30. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.83 and a 52-week high of $192.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.49, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. 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 firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. Argus downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at PepsiCo

In other PepsiCo news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About PepsiCo

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.