Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Has $5.85 Million Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC decreased its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 38,484 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,654 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $5,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PEP. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,834,504,000 after buying an additional 3,856,193 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,738,429,000 after buying an additional 2,775,679 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,293,049,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 211.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,343 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays cut PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $168.00 to $156.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup cut their target price on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.88.

PepsiCo Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $145.45 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $149.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $158.96. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.51 and a 1 year high of $183.41. The firm has a market cap of $199.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.