Aviance Capital Partners LLC Sells 1,026 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,731 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,026 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Counsel Inc raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 4,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Argus lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup upgraded PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.42.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock traded down $0.33 during trading on Monday, hitting $175.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,576,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,716,585. The business has a fifty day moving average of $170.30 and a 200-day moving average of $168.57. The company has a market cap of $241.72 billion, a PE ratio of 26.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $155.83 and a 52 week high of $196.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

PepsiCo 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.