Kestra Advisory Services LLC Trims Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Kestra Advisory Services LLC lessened its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 13.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 206,408 shares of the company’s stock after selling 33,449 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $31,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 211.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,343 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 4,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 2,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 9,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. HSBC cut their price target 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. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.59.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $148.59 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $148.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $160.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The company has a market capitalization of $203.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.51 and a 52-week high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 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.