PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Stock Position Reduced by Cutler Investment Counsel LLC

Cutler Investment Counsel LLC reduced its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 60,563 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,228 shares during the period. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $9,290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on PEP shares. Barclays lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. HSBC cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research 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 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.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PepsiCo stock opened at $143.39 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $163.13. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $141.51 and a one year high of $183.41. The company has a market capitalization of $196.66 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. 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 (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 EPS for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 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.