Birch Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Birch Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 17.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,297 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,148 shares during the quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 2.3% in the first quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 37,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,509,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 0.5% during the first quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 18,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,318,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% during the first quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. now owns 17,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,031,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.5% during the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 296,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,147,000 after buying an additional 7,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.2% during the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,152,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at PepsiCo

In other news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP opened at $167.64 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $230.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.83 and a fifty-two week high of $192.38. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $173.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 given a $1.355 dividend. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Argus downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $186.15.

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.