Denali Advisors LLC Sells 34,407 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Denali Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 83.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,667 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,407 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,738,429,000 after buying an additional 2,775,679 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 21.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,293,049,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264,445 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 211.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,343 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 360.0% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,697,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 62.4% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 3,014,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $458,324,000 after buying an additional 1,157,835 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on PEP. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, HSBC cut their target price on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $151.51 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $207.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.51 and a fifty-two week high of $183.41. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $161.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

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.