Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. Lowers Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,405 shares of the company’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo comprises about 1.1% of Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,597,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 80.5% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Avion Wealth grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 61.7% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PEP shares. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Argus cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.58.

Insider Transactions at PepsiCo

In other news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of PepsiCo stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at $9,603,634. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ PEP traded down $1.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $177.99. 3,447,399 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,948,433. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $174.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.16. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month high of $192.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $244.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion for 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 business’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 76.09%.

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.