Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA Cuts Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA trimmed its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,111 shares of the company’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,738,429,000 after buying an additional 2,775,679 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,497,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,170,529,000 after acquiring an additional 543,558 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,360,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,632,413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125,059 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,293,049,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 2.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,098,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,057,359,000 after purchasing an additional 313,468 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of PEP stock opened at $143.39 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.70. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.51 and a 1-year high of $183.41. The firm has a market cap of $196.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. PepsiCo’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a $172.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler began coverage on PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.47.

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.