PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Sold by Liberty Capital Management Inc.

Liberty Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,637 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,422 shares during the period. Liberty Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 293,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,016,000 after acquiring an additional 40,031 shares during the period. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in PepsiCo by 8.3% in the third quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 4.1% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 16,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,795,000 after buying an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 31,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,356,000 after purchasing an additional 931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 4.6% in the third quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $937,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on PEP shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.47.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PepsiCo stock opened at $144.58 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.51 and a 52-week high of $183.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $151.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $164.09.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

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.