Loudon Investment Management LLC Sells 154 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Loudon Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,004 shares of the company’s stock after selling 154 shares during the period. Loudon Investment Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,001,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,227,287,000 after purchasing an additional 578,083 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,878,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,859,812,000 after acquiring an additional 595,357 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,641,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470,064 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,316,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,239,629,000 after purchasing an additional 608,321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,774,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,147,922,000 after purchasing an additional 142,243 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PepsiCo stock traded up $1.73 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $179.79. 4,201,635 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,616,206. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.68. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month high of $196.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $247.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50 day moving average of $170.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.82.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup upgraded PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Argus cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.42.

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.