ProVise Management Group LLC Decreases Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

ProVise Management Group LLC lowered its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 21.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,884 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,855 shares during the quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $3,547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,001,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,227,287,000 after acquiring an additional 578,083 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in PepsiCo by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,878,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,859,812,000 after buying an additional 595,357 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,686,139,000. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,641,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470,064 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,520,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345,065 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PEP shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Argus downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.58.

Insider Transactions at PepsiCo

In related news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total value of $1,000,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at $9,603,634. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP traded down $1.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $177.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,447,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,948,433. The firm has a market cap of $244.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $174.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.14. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.83 and a 1 year high of $192.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.17 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

PepsiCo 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.