Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Lowers Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC cut its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 934,310 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,256 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned about 0.07% of PepsiCo worth $163,514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PEP. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $411,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Security Financial Services INC. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.6% during the first quarter. Security Financial Services INC. now owns 3,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PEP shares. Argus lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.38.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ PEP opened at $166.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $228.57 billion, a PE ratio of 25.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a fifty day moving average of $173.68 and a 200 day moving average of $170.35. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.83 and a 1 year high of $192.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 81.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PepsiCo news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total value of $1,000,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

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.