Lane & Associates LLC Decreases Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Lane & Associates LLC reduced its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,099 shares of the company’s stock after selling 123 shares during the period. Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in PepsiCo by 93.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on PEP shares. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a $172.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. BNP Paribas dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.47.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $149.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $204.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.54. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.51 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $148.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $162.39.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The business 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. 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.