PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Holdings Trimmed by Patten Group Inc.

Patten Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 17,535 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,022 shares during the period. Patten Group Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,666,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,834,504,000 after buying an additional 3,856,193 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,738,429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,775,679 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,293,049,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264,445 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 211.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 360.0% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,697,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328,672 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BNP Paribas reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of PEP stock opened at $155.99 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.33. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.51 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $213.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.44, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 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.