PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Sold by RNC Capital Management LLC

RNC Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,441 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,342 shares during the quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $3,302,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of PEP. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 95,514.1% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,876,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,746,023,000 after buying an additional 42,831,405 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,519,707,000. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 26,720,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,827,240,000 after buying an additional 4,629,947 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $360,472,000. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $329,179,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on PEP. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. StockNews.com downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.77.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP stock opened at $173.57 on Thursday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.83 and a 52-week high of $196.88. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $167.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $238.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.03% and a net margin of 9.92%. The business had revenue of $27.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st will be issued a $1.265 dividend. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 77.02%.

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.