Westover Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Westover Capital Advisors LLC lessened its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 73.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,036 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,286 shares during the quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 211.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,343 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 4,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $777,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC boosted its position in PepsiCo by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $629,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 0.5% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 19,119 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,251,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lansing Street Advisors increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 6.7% during the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 1,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Trading Up 1.6 %

PEP opened at $155.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $213.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $141.51 and a 52 week high of $183.41. The business’s 50 day moving average is $148.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $161.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on PEP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 price objective for the company. CICC Research reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. Finally, BNP Paribas reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.