Cardinal Strategic Wealth Guidance Lowers Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Cardinal Strategic Wealth Guidance lessened its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,869 shares of the company’s stock after selling 285 shares during the period. Cardinal Strategic Wealth Guidance’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. First American Trust FSB increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 64.5% in the 4th quarter. First American Trust FSB now owns 7,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 2,819 shares during the period. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC now owns 33,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,749,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. VELA Investment Management LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 6,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co. grew its position in PepsiCo by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 126,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,468,000 after purchasing an additional 4,122 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 29,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,046,000 after purchasing an additional 895 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup raised shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $176.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.92.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.8 %

PepsiCo stock traded up $1.29 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $168.24. The company had a trading volume of 1,195,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,700,942. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.38. The stock has a market cap of $231.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $155.83 and a 1-year high of $196.88.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $27.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.40 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 58.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.67 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $1.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.02%.

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.