Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Decreases Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 174,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,100 shares during the period. PepsiCo comprises about 0.5% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $26,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 93.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ PEP opened at $145.64 on Wednesday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.51 and a 12 month high of $183.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $151.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $163.87. The stock has a market cap of $199.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.