Davidson Investment Advisors Reduces Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Davidson Investment Advisors lessened its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 96.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,900 shares of the company’s stock after selling 76,593 shares during the quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors’ holdings in PepsiCo were worth $537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avion Wealth raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 70.6% in the second quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 145 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Spotlight Asset Group Inc. bought a new position in PepsiCo in the second quarter worth $27,000. Pacific Center for Financial Services bought a new position in PepsiCo in the first quarter worth $47,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo in the first quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Alpha Paradigm Partners LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo in the third quarter worth $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $188.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 11th. Citigroup reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $200.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 11th. Barclays raised their price target on PepsiCo from $179.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.57.

PepsiCo Price Performance

NASDAQ PEP traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $166.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,707,595 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,882,041. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.83 and a 1 year high of $196.88. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $167.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.60. The company has a market capitalization of $228.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.75, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.57.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 10th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.10. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.28% and a net margin of 9.05%. The business had revenue of $23.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.97 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be paid a $1.265 dividend. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 30th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 84.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Hugh F. Johnston sold 48,388 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.65, for a total transaction of $8,063,860.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 96,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,102,889.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Profile

PepsiCo, Inc manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells 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.