United Asset Strategies Inc. Sells 297 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

United Asset Strategies Inc. lessened its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,218 shares of the company’s stock after selling 297 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PEP. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 59.4% during the fourth 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 during the period. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,747,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $405,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.4% during the third quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 13,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,091,000 after purchasing an additional 3,159 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on PEP shares. StockNews.com cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $185.00 to $176.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Argus cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.92.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEP traded up $1.54 on Tuesday, hitting $168.49. The stock had a trading volume of 1,444,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,703,607. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.83 and a 52-week high of $196.88. The stock has a market cap of $231.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $27.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.40 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 58.03%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.67 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $1.265 per share. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.02%.

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.