PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Position Lowered by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. cut its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,520,649 shares of the company’s stock after selling 94,229 shares during the period. PepsiCo accounts for 2.6% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of PepsiCo worth $428,107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PEP. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 9,623.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,058,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $519,381,000 after buying an additional 3,026,611 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter worth $329,179,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG grew its position in PepsiCo by 121.4% during the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,727,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,586 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in PepsiCo by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,641,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in PepsiCo by 68.0% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,922,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,371 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PepsiCo stock opened at $175.58 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.83 and a 1 year high of $196.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $169.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.86. The company has a market cap of $241.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.40, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.86.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $1.265 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.42.

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.