James Investment Research Inc. Decreases Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

James Investment Research Inc. cut its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 62.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,711 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,459 shares during the quarter. James Investment Research Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 99,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,968,000 after purchasing an additional 8,406 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 104.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,350,000 after purchasing an additional 870,451 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 350,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,549,000 after purchasing an additional 34,633 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,323,000 after purchasing an additional 4,712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,220 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.47.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $143.39 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.13. The company has a market cap of $196.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $141.51 and a 52 week high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion during 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.99%.

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.