PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Sold by Patten Group Inc.

Patten Group Inc. lessened its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,535 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,022 shares during the quarter. Patten Group Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,856,193 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,738,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775,679 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in PepsiCo by 21.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,293,049,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,445 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 211.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,847,000 after buying an additional 1,592,343 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 360.0% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,697,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,158,000 after buying an additional 1,328,672 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a $172.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. CICC Research reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.47.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $155.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $148.68 and a 200-day moving average of $161.33. The company has a market cap of $213.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.51 and a 1 year high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

About PepsiCo

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.