Verity Asset Management Inc. Sells 3,446 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Verity Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 48.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,670 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,446 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 40,031 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in PepsiCo by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 279,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,582,000 after purchasing an additional 17,833 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 25,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,272,000 after buying an additional 4,676 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 3.9% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 77,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,246,000 after buying an additional 2,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Anglin Financial LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 0.9% during the third quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC now owns 8,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,398,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PEP. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $172.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded PepsiCo to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $176.73.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $150.27 on Tuesday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.51 and a 1-year high of $183.41. 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 has a market cap of $206.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $153.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.85.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.32% and a net margin of 10.18%. Analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.94%.

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.