Paragon Capital Management Ltd Trims Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Paragon Capital Management Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,896 shares of the company’s stock after selling 60 shares during the period. Paragon Capital Management Ltd’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,152,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 149,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,132,000 after acquiring an additional 10,920 shares during the period. &PARTNERS grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 223.1% during the 1st quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 12,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,184,000 after acquiring an additional 8,573 shares during the period. Matthew Goff Investment Advisor LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Matthew Goff Investment Advisor LLC now owns 57,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,098,000 after acquiring an additional 1,432 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Morris Harris LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC now owns 3,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $685,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.4 %

PEP stock traded up $0.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $167.28. 10,899,240 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,901,276. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.15, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.34. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.83 and a 1 year high of $192.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. 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.