PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Position Trimmed by Dudley Capital Management LLC

Dudley Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,372 shares of the company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the period. Dudley Capital Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,425,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PEP. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 104.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,350,000 after buying an additional 870,451 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in PepsiCo by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,323,000 after purchasing an additional 4,712 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 350,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,549,000 after purchasing an additional 34,633 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,236,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,031,000 after buying an additional 61,541 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $169.88.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $146.45 on Tuesday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.51 and a 52-week high of $183.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $200.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $158.73.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

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.