Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Has $2.76 Million Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,128 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,763 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 99,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,968,000 after buying an additional 8,406 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew 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 valued at $259,350,000 after purchasing an additional 870,451 shares during the period. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV grew 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 valued at $6,323,000 after purchasing an additional 4,712 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew 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 valued at $59,549,000 after purchasing an additional 34,633 shares during the period. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC grew 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 valued at $5,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,220 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. HSBC reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.35.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $154.44 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.51 and a 52-week high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given 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 3.51%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio 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.