Phocas Financial Corp. Decreases Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Phocas Financial Corp. cut its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 22.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,113 shares of the company’s stock after selling 888 shares during the quarter. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,706,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $411,505,000 after purchasing an additional 157,223 shares in the last quarter. Fjell Capital LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $680,000. DMKC Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at $1,771,000. Advisor OS LLC increased its position in PepsiCo by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 13,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,070,000 after buying an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth $3,116,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $156.42 on Wednesday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.51 and a 1-year high of $183.41. The company has a market capitalization of $214.53 billion, a PE ratio of 22.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The business has a 50-day moving average of $148.62 and a 200-day moving average of $161.87.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on PEP. UBS Group dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a $172.00 target price for the company. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. HSBC dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.47.

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.