PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP Shares Sold by Boston Trust Walden Corp

Boston Trust Walden Corp reduced its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 565,525 shares of the company’s stock after selling 170,027 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $79,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PEP. Nova Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the first quarter worth $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 107.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 667.7% during the third quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PEP shares. Loop Capital set a $164.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Citigroup boosted their price target on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on PepsiCo from $150.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $151.00 to $164.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $158.75.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $143.78 on Monday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $160.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The firm has a market cap of $196.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33, a PEG ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $147.27 and a 200-day moving average of $143.50.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.03. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.58% and a net margin of 7.82%.The firm had revenue of $23.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.91 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 108.17%.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ: PEP) is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.