PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Stake Cut by First Merchants Corp

First Merchants Corp lessened its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 23.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 65,393 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,827 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $9,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 99,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,968,000 after buying an additional 8,406 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 104.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,350,000 after acquiring an additional 870,451 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 11.0% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 350,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,549,000 after acquiring an additional 34,633 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in PepsiCo by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,323,000 after purchasing an additional 4,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 19.3% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,220 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas cut their target price on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. HSBC decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.47.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $144.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $198.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.51 and a 1 year high of $183.41. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $150.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. PepsiCo’s dividend 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.