Cornerstone Capital Inc. Decreases Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Cornerstone Capital Inc. trimmed its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 105,598 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,226 shares during the period. PepsiCo makes up approximately 1.7% of Cornerstone Capital Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Cornerstone Capital Inc.'s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $16,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,280,471,000 after buying an additional 1,376,133 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,717,069,000 after buying an additional 582,254 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after acquiring an additional 3,856,193 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,729,565,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,013,158 shares of the company's stock worth $2,130,841,000 after purchasing an additional 689,383 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays downgraded shares of PepsiCo from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $168.00 to $156.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $168.12.

PepsiCo Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of PepsiCo stock traded up $2.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $142.84. 6,052,161 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,108,169. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.88 billion, a PE ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $148.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $154.74. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $138.33 and a 1-year high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. The business's revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

PepsiCo Company 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.