PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Sold by Argus Investors Counsel Inc.

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 19.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,109 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Flossbach Von Storch AG grew its position in PepsiCo by 67.2% in the 1st quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 4,560,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $798,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,832,385 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in PepsiCo by 211.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592,343 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in PepsiCo by 125.2% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,740,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $452,003,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523,631 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in PepsiCo by 429.3% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,454,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,603,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179,922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in PepsiCo by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,547,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,234,400,000 after acquiring an additional 905,468 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on PEP. Hsbc Global Res raised PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded PepsiCo to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. BNP Paribas started coverage on PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $179.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $183.92.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $174.43. The stock had a trading volume of 763,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,474,145. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.80 billion, a PE ratio of 25.24, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.53. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $158.03 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $173.86 and its 200 day moving average is $172.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.32% and a net margin of 10.18%. The business had revenue of $23.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.66%.

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.