Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,206 shares of the company’s stock after selling 66 shares during the period. Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Certuity LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 4,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $775,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its stake in PepsiCo by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 50,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,589,000 after buying an additional 3,368 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 15,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,607,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Field & Main Bank boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 20,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,506,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 78,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,294,000 after purchasing an additional 3,835 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup raised shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.42.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.1 %

PEP stock traded down $0.26 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $175.88. 2,428,018 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,779,233. The company has a 50-day moving average of $169.60 and a 200-day moving average of $168.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.86. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.83 and a 1 year high of $196.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $241.80 billion, a PE ratio of 26.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. 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 firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. Analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $1.265 dividend. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.09%.

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.