Liberty Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Liberty Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,637 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,422 shares during the quarter. Liberty Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 293,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,016,000 after buying an additional 40,031 shares during the period. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 16,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,795,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 3.0% in the third quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 31,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,356,000 after buying an additional 931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 4.6% during the third quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $937,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $144.58 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $198.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $151.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $164.09. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.51 and a fifty-two week high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly 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. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group lowered their target price 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. HSBC dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.47.

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.