Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc Trims Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc lowered its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 4.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,680 shares of the company’s stock after selling 79 shares during the period. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $224,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 59,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,031,000 after purchasing an additional 6,574 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $9,268,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optas LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 4,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $131.85 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $137.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.72. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.75 and a 12 month high of $180.91. The company has a market capitalization of $180.78 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Dbs Bank cut shares of PepsiCo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. HSBC decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.69.

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.