Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC Trims Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC trimmed its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 26.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,294 shares of the company’s stock after selling 846 shares during the quarter. Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,497,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,170,529,000 after buying an additional 543,558 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after buying an additional 3,856,193 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,013,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,130,841,000 after buying an additional 689,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,293,049,000 after buying an additional 2,264,445 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PEP. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.88.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP stock opened at $145.45 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $159.22. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.51 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The firm has a market cap of $199.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion for 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 business’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. Analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company 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 3.73%. 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.