Grace & White Inc. NY Trims Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Grace & White Inc. NY trimmed its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,740 shares of the company’s stock after selling 650 shares during the quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $3,762,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in PepsiCo by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,738,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775,679 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,497,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,170,529,000 after buying an additional 543,558 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,360,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,632,413,000 after buying an additional 1,125,059 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in PepsiCo by 21.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,293,049,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in PepsiCo by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,098,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,057,359,000 after acquiring an additional 313,468 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. HSBC decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $143.99 on Thursday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.51 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $150.73 and a 200-day moving average of $163.68. The firm has a market cap of $197.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

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

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

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.