Howard Financial Services LTD. Has $2.73 Million Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Howard Financial Services LTD. lessened its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,070 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,324 shares during the quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Flossbach Von Storch AG grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 67.2% in the 1st quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 4,560,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $798,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,832,385 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 125.2% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,740,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,003,000 after purchasing an additional 1,523,631 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in PepsiCo by 429.3% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,454,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,603,000 after buying an additional 1,179,922 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 1st quarter worth approximately $166,243,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in PepsiCo by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,547,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,234,400,000 after acquiring an additional 905,468 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PEP. StockNews.com lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Barclays lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $187.00 to $186.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $182.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $185.29.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $170.32 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $234.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $157.43 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The company’s fifty day moving average is $173.63 and its 200 day moving average is $172.06.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $23.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.86 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 57.37%. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.13 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.66%.

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.