Ellis Investment Partners LLC Reduces Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Ellis Investment Partners LLC reduced its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,172 shares of the company’s stock after selling 240 shares during the period. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,738,429,000 after buying an additional 2,775,679 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,497,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,170,529,000 after buying an additional 543,558 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.6% in 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 buying an additional 1,125,059 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,264,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,098,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,057,359,000 after purchasing an additional 313,468 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.47.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of PEP stock opened at $143.39 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $141.51 and a 12-month high of $183.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $149.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $163.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

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.