Kentucky Retirement Systems Reduces Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 95,691 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,908 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in PepsiCo were worth $16,272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 59.0% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 159 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo in the third quarter worth about $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 141.3% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 93.2% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $179.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of PepsiCo to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $183.92.

PepsiCo Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of PEP stock opened at $158.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $217.63 billion, a PE ratio of 23.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $170.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $171.56. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.03 and a 1 year high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 57.32%. The company had revenue of $23.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

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.