Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 11,811 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Financial Counselors Inc. cut its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 352,862 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,811 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $53,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp raised its stake in PepsiCo by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 27,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,679 shares during the period. Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $522,000. Ipsen Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $470,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Bay Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth $582,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $145.54 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.94, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $141.51 and a one year high of $183.41. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $149.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $158.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PEP. Jefferies Financial Group lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. BNP Paribas cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One research 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.88.

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.