Appleton Partners Inc. MA Sells 3,981 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA trimmed its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 6.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 58,573 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,981 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $10,251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at $2,686,139,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 9,623.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,058,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $519,381,000 after buying an additional 3,026,611 shares in the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG increased its stake in PepsiCo by 121.4% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,727,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495,586 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 17.9% in the 4th 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. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 17.7% during the 4th 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. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,603,634. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Argus cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.17.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of PEP stock traded down $0.28 on Tuesday, hitting $165.86. The stock had a trading volume of 806,886 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,461,647. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $173.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The firm has a market cap of $228.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.98, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $192.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 81.50%.

PepsiCo Company 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.