Pensioenfonds Rail & OV Lowers Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Pensioenfonds Rail & OV reduced its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 19.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 206,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 48,733 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo accounts for 2.6% of Pensioenfonds Rail & OV’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Pensioenfonds Rail & OV’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $36,401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Security National Bank grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 0.5% during the first quarter. Security National Bank now owns 22,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,933,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $620,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $835,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 2.9% during the first quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 34,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,117,000 after buying an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Planning Group LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the first quarter valued at about $208,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at PepsiCo

In related news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of PepsiCo stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total value of $1,000,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PEP shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on PepsiCo in a report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Argus downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $186.38.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP traded down $0.61 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $166.74. 4,774,121 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,501,404. The firm has a market cap of $229.23 billion, a PE ratio of 25.10, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.37. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month high of $192.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.86.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 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.