Gould Asset Management LLC CA Trims Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Gould Asset Management LLC CA reduced its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,081 shares of the company’s stock after selling 155 shares during the quarter. Gould Asset Management LLC CA’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 80.5% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Avion Wealth lifted its position in PepsiCo by 61.7% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 241 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on PEP. Argus downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.42.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP traded down $0.73 on Thursday, hitting $176.68. 7,436,495 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,872,530. The company has a 50 day moving average of $169.22 and a 200-day moving average of $167.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $242.85 billion, a PE ratio of 26.57, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.53. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.83 and a 12-month high of $196.88.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $1.265 per share. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.09%.

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.