Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Has $1.72 Million Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,333 shares of the company’s stock after selling 936 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,723,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tcfg Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Tcfg Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Lincoln Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Lincoln Capital LLC now owns 16,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,556,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 3,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Osprey Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Osprey Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,290,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Michael S. Ryan Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Michael S. Ryan Inc. now owns 2,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on PEP shares. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.88.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $145.45 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.51 and a 1 year high of $183.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50-day moving average is $149.04 and its 200 day moving average is $159.09. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 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.