Empirical Finance LLC Lowers Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Empirical Finance LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,903 shares of the company’s stock after selling 638 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $7,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PEP. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 138,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,131,000 after purchasing an additional 39,178 shares during the last quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. now owns 115,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,514,000 after acquiring an additional 8,376 shares during the last quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP now owns 88,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,511,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 105.8% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 141,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,573,000 after purchasing an additional 72,946 shares during the period. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 4,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler began coverage on PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.47.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.5 %

PepsiCo stock opened at $144.58 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.51 and a 1-year high of $183.41. The company has a market cap of $198.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $151.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $164.10.

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. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.99%.

PepsiCo 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.