Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 87,578 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Federated Hermes Inc. decreased its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 17.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 428,727 shares of the company’s stock after selling 87,578 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $72,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PEP. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 95,514.1% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,876,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,746,023,000 after acquiring an additional 42,831,405 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth $2,519,707,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in PepsiCo by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 26,720,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,827,240,000 after acquiring an additional 4,629,947 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 9,623.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,058,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $519,381,000 after buying an additional 3,026,611 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter worth about $329,179,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Barclays upped their price target on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.92.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP stock opened at $172.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $236.79 billion, a PE ratio of 26.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The business has a 50 day moving average of $168.55 and a 200-day moving average of $167.42. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.83 and a 12-month high of $196.88.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.03% and a net margin of 9.92%. The company had revenue of $27.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.67 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $1.265 per share. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.02%.

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.