First Financial Corp IN Sells 214 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

First Financial Corp IN lessened its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 6.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,081 shares of the company’s stock after selling 214 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,001,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,227,287,000 after acquiring an additional 578,083 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,686,139,000. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,641,389,000 after buying an additional 1,470,064 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,520,909,000 after buying an additional 1,345,065 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,421,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,430,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,127 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at PepsiCo

In related news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total value of $1,000,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 53,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,603,634. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP stock traded down $0.65 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $166.70. The stock had a trading volume of 2,127,551 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,479,711. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $173.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.37. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $192.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.89, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.52. 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 (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 81.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on PEP. Barclays dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Monday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.38.

PepsiCo 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.