Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Cuts Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,244 shares of the company’s stock after selling 865 shares during the quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 17,113.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,220,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $547,626,000 after purchasing an additional 3,201,676 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in PepsiCo by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,738,429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,775,679 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in PepsiCo by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,293,049,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264,445 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its position in PepsiCo by 211.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,360,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,632,413,000 after acquiring an additional 1,125,059 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler began coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.47.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $145.66 on Thursday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.51 and a 52-week high of $183.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $152.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $164.53. The company has a market cap of $199.84 billion, a PE ratio of 21.48, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.54.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.32% and a net margin of 10.18%. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.94%.

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.