First Financial Bank Trust Division Sells 159 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

First Financial Bank Trust Division trimmed its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 71,099 shares of the company’s stock after selling 159 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo comprises approximately 1.0% of First Financial Bank Trust Division’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $10,811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PEP. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,775,679 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,497,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,170,529,000 after buying an additional 543,558 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,360,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,632,413,000 after acquiring an additional 1,125,059 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in PepsiCo by 7.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,547,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,234,400,000 after acquiring an additional 905,468 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in 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. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on PEP. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded PepsiCo to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $184.31.

PepsiCo Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:PEP traded down $1.85 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $150.21. 4,875,339 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,585,426. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $183.41. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.15, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $23.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.86 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 57.32%. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.94%.

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.