Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Trims Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP reduced its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 24.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,346 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,078 shares during the period. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Wynn Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $607,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 63,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,708,000 after acquiring an additional 1,030 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 37,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088 shares during the last quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 6,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,093,000 after buying an additional 837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth $1,963,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEP traded up $6.19 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $177.41. The stock had a trading volume of 10,011,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,852,656. The stock has a market capitalization of $243.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.53. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $155.83 and a 52 week high of $196.88. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.03% and a net margin of 9.92%. The company 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 firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $1.265 per share. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on PEP. 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. Argus downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.33.

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.