Mezzasalma Advisors LLC Sells 86 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Mezzasalma Advisors LLC reduced its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,635 shares of the company’s stock after selling 86 shares during the quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its position in PepsiCo by 80.5% in 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 last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Argus lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.64.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.3 %

PEP stock traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $163.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 439,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,442,153. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month high of $192.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $172.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.13. The company has a market cap of $224.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.52.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of PepsiCo stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PepsiCo 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.