Veracity Capital LLC Reduces Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Veracity Capital LLC lessened its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 6.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,228 shares of the company’s stock after selling 209 shares during the quarter. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $565,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 3,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $693,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 59.4% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 993,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,747,000 after buying an additional 370,122 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,747,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $405,000. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,091,000 after acquiring an additional 3,159 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PepsiCo stock opened at $163.24 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $172.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.13. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.83 and a 1 year high of $192.38. The stock has a market cap of $224.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 81.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,603,634. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PEP. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.64.

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.