PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Acquired by Sciencast Management LP

Sciencast Management LP raised its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 22.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,053 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,736 shares during the period. PepsiCo makes up 0.8% of Sciencast Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Sciencast Management LP’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $3,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $819,000. Washington Trust Bank grew its position in PepsiCo by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 10,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,612,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth $371,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. now owns 16,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,522,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares during the period. Finally, Loudon Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Loudon Investment Management LLC now owns 9,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,416,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PEP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. BNP Paribas cut 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.88.

PepsiCo Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $145.45 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.51 and a fifty-two week high of $183.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $149.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $159.22.

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

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

PepsiCo Company Profile

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.