Equity Investment Corp lowered its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 23.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 615,436 shares of the company’s stock after selling 186,271 shares during the period. PepsiCo comprises 2.8% of Equity Investment Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Equity Investment Corp’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $80,702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PEP. Personal Wealth Partners purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Financial Advantage Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Institutional investors own 71.83% of the company’s stock.
Shares of PEP stock opened at $132.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $184.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.42, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.60. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $104.53 and a one year high of $135.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $130.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.66.
PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 9th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $16.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.44 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 19.59% and a return on equity of 59.50%. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $0.955 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $3.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.49%.
Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PEP. BidaskClub upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Cowen raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $135.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Argus restated a “buy” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $129.35.
In other PepsiCo news, CEO Kirk Tanner sold 9,573 shares of PepsiCo stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.15, for a total value of $1,226,779.95. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,500,602.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven C. Williams sold 2,420 shares of PepsiCo stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.95, for a total transaction of $324,159.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,920 shares in the company, valued at $7,356,534. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.
About PepsiCo
PepsiCo, Inc operates as a food and beverage company worldwide. The company’s Frito-Lay North America segment offers branded dips; Cheetos cheese-flavored snacks; and Doritos tortilla, Fritos corn, Lay’s potato, Ruffles potato, and Tostitos tortilla chips. Its Quaker Foods North America segment provides cereals, rice, pasta, mixes and syrups, granola bars, grits, oat squares, oatmeal, rice cakes, simply granola, and side dishes under the Aunt Jemima, Cap’n crunch, Life, Quaker Chewy, Quaker, and Rice-A-Roni brands.