Optas LLC Sells 555 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Optas LLC decreased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 9.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,205 shares of the company’s stock after selling 555 shares during the quarter. Optas LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $911,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 59.4% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 993,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,747,000 after purchasing an additional 370,122 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,747,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $405,000. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,091,000 after acquiring an additional 3,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marion Wealth Management lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Marion Wealth Management now owns 7,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,340,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $164.93 on Monday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $155.83 and a 52 week high of $192.38. The firm has a market cap of $226.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.86.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at PepsiCo

In other PepsiCo news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the firm’s 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 approximately $9,603,634. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on PEP. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. Barclays cut 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.38.

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.