Veracity Capital LLC Sells 209 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Veracity Capital LLC trimmed its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 6.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,228 shares of the company’s stock after selling 209 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $565,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,001,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,227,287,000 after purchasing an additional 578,083 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth about $2,686,139,000. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,641,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470,064 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,520,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345,065 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,421,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,430,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,127 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PEP. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Barclays reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at PepsiCo

In other PepsiCo news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 53,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $163.24 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $192.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $172.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.13. The company has a market capitalization of $224.42 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.52. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. 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 3.32%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 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.