Cascade Financial Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Cascade Financial Partners LLC reduced its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 143,202 shares of the company’s stock after selling 974 shares during the period. PepsiCo accounts for 2.8% of Cascade Financial Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Cascade Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $21,775,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Swedbank AB boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 2.0% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 4,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 19.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 40,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,935,000 after purchasing an additional 6,704 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 53.0% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 329.3% in the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 5,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 4,551 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.35.

PepsiCo Stock Down 2.5 %

PEP opened at $152.33 on Wednesday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.51 and a fifty-two week 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 fifty day moving average of $148.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.92, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.