Investment Partners LTD. Sells 310 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Investment Partners LTD. lowered its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,603 shares of the company’s stock after selling 310 shares during the quarter. Investment Partners LTD.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,686,139,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 9,623.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,058,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $519,381,000 after acquiring an additional 3,026,611 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG raised its stake in PepsiCo by 121.4% in the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,727,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495,586 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in PepsiCo by 17.9% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in PepsiCo by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,520,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345,065 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at PepsiCo

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on PEP shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. BNP Paribas began coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Monday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target on the stock. Argus cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.38.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.1 %

PEP stock traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $166.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 918,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,455,001. The company has a market cap of $228.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month high of $192.38. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $173.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.35.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 81.50%.

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.