PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Sold by Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lessened its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 323,864 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,232 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $55,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,001,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,227,287,000 after purchasing an additional 578,083 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in PepsiCo by 3.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,878,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,859,812,000 after acquiring an additional 595,357 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $2,686,139,000. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in PepsiCo by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,641,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in PepsiCo by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,520,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345,065 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PEP shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.58.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP traded down $2.71 on Thursday, hitting $179.38. 1,384,226 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,460,876. The firm has a market cap of $246.61 billion, a PE ratio of 27.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $192.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $174.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.09%.

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.