Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Has $916,000 Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC cut its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,390 shares of the company’s stock after selling 386 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 0.9% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 110,578,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,481,325,000 after buying an additional 987,829 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 0.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,055,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,938,322,000 after acquiring an additional 489,175 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 95,514.1% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,876,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,746,023,000 after acquiring an additional 42,831,405 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 26,720,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,827,240,000 after acquiring an additional 4,629,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 5.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,423,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,736,000 after acquiring an additional 920,032 shares in the last quarter. 71.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEP traded down $0.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $172.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,106,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,023,385. The firm has a market cap of $236.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $167.63 and a 200-day moving average of $168.12. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month high of $196.88.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $27.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.40 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.03% and a net margin of 9.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.67 EPS. Research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $1.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on PEP. Barclays boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $179.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.77.

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.