Essex LLC Sells 2,385 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Essex LLC cut its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 18,372 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,385 shares during the quarter. Essex LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,794,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Cross Staff Investments Inc boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 0.9% during the third quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 7,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,204,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in PepsiCo by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 0.8% in the third quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 7,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,288,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.1% during the third quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 5,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $973,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 4,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $733,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on PEP. StockNews.com cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI cut their target price on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.47.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $144.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $198.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $151.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.10. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.51 and a fifty-two week high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The business 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 was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. 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.