Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA Trims Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA reduced its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,772 shares of the company’s stock after selling 581 shares during the period. PepsiCo accounts for 1.3% of Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $3,311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 15.8% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 293,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,016,000 after purchasing an additional 40,031 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 211.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,343 shares during the period. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 89,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,142,000 after buying an additional 3,297 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2.6% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,162,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.7% in the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 7,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,247,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. BNP Paribas cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP stock opened at $144.58 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.51 and a 12 month high of $183.41. The stock has a market cap of $198.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $150.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.54.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

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.