Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Sells 2,986 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL decreased its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,166 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,986 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $14,380,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 80.5% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 77.5% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in PepsiCo in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Argus downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $182.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on PepsiCo from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $185.53.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP stock traded up $1.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $172.75. The company had a trading volume of 5,746,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,470,916. The company has a market capitalization of $237.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $168.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.85. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.83 and a 52-week high of $192.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The business had revenue of $22.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.66%.

Insider Activity

In other PepsiCo news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of PepsiCo 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

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.