Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Has $860,000 Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. lowered its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,654 shares of the company’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PEP. Mystic Asset Management Inc. grew its position in PepsiCo by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,490,000 after purchasing an additional 6,579 shares in the last quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 16,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,537,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Dopkins Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $263,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,009,000. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its position in PepsiCo by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,776,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on PEP. Barclays increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.59.

PepsiCo Price Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $151.34 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $148.86 and a 200-day moving average of $159.75. The company has a market capitalization of $207.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.78, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $141.51 and a 52 week high of $183.41. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The business 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.