Versant Capital Management Inc Trims Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Versant Capital Management Inc cut its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 14.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,126 shares of the company’s stock after selling 508 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Counsel Inc boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 4,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $699,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other PepsiCo news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on PEP. Argus lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.17.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP opened at $166.48 on Wednesday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.83 and a 1 year high of $192.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $173.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market cap of $228.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 81.50%.

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.