Embree Financial Group Trims Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Embree Financial Group lowered its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 18.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,070 shares of the company’s stock after selling 680 shares during the period. Embree Financial Group’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 3.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 578,083 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $2,686,139,000. California Public Employees Retirement System grew 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 worth $1,641,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,064 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,520,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345,065 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,421,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,430,250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,127 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PEP. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Argus cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.00.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP traded up $1.69 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $163.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,364,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,488,051. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $155.83 and a one year high of $192.38. The firm has a market cap of $224.90 billion, a PE ratio of 24.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.03.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 3.31%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total value of $1,000,360.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.