HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Trims Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lessened its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,565 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,732 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $7,235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in PepsiCo by 104.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,350,000 after purchasing an additional 870,451 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in PepsiCo by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,323,000 after purchasing an additional 4,712 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 11.0% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 350,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,549,000 after buying an additional 34,633 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 19.3% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,493,000 after buying an additional 5,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its position in PepsiCo by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,236,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,031,000 after acquiring an additional 61,541 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ PEP opened at $149.27 on Monday. 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 stock has a market cap of $204.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.51 and a fifty-two week high of $183.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $149.25 and a 200-day moving average of $157.91.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PEP shares. HSBC lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.88.

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.