Harfst & Associates Inc. Sells 95 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Harfst & Associates Inc. lowered its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,790 shares of the company’s stock after selling 95 shares during the period. Harfst & Associates Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 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 valued at $9,738,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775,679 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 valued at $2,293,049,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,445 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 211.4% in the 3rd 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. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 360.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 62.4% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 3,014,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $458,324,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157,835 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a $172.00 price target on the stock. CICC Research reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.47.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $151.51 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $207.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $141.51 and a 52 week high of $183.41. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $148.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. On average, analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

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

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.