Denali Advisors LLC Sells 34,407 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Denali Advisors LLC cut its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 83.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,667 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,407 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $3,116,000. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 21,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,354,000 after acquiring an additional 5,750 shares during the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 5,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,535 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $887,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in PepsiCo by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 206,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,453,000 after purchasing an additional 16,783 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on PEP. BNP Paribas lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $151.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $207.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.80. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $141.51 and a one year high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.