Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 930 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. cut its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 251,190 shares of the company’s stock after selling 930 shares during the period. PepsiCo accounts for about 2.9% of Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $42,662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $2,686,139,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 9,623.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,058,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $519,381,000 after acquiring an additional 3,026,611 shares during the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 121.4% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,727,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,259,000 after buying an additional 1,495,586 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,641,389,000 after buying an additional 1,470,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,520,909,000 after buying an additional 1,345,065 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at PepsiCo

In other news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total value of $1,000,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.38.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $164.93 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month high of $192.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.80, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.52. 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.50%.

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.