ING Groep NV Lowers Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

ING Groep NV lessened its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 519,994 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,246 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $79,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cross Staff Investments Inc boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 0.9% during the third quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 7,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,204,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.1% during the third quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $508,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 0.8% during the third quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 7,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,288,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.1% during the third quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 5,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $973,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.6% during the third quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 4,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $733,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PEP shares. CICC Research reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.47.

PepsiCo Price Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $145.81 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.54. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.51 and a 52-week high of $183.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $149.16 and a 200 day moving average of $162.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.