Gradient Investments LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Gradient Investments LLC cut its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 95.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,867 shares of the company’s stock after selling 86,626 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nova Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in PepsiCo in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 107.1% during the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 85.3% in the 2nd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $146.00 to $145.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 15th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $172.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. DZ Bank raised shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $167.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Loop Capital set a $164.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $151.00 to $164.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $158.75.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PepsiCo stock opened at $149.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $204.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $148.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $142.74. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $160.15.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $23.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.91 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 57.58%. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 108.17%.

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.