Gabelli Funds LLC Sells 17,128 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Gabelli Funds LLC cut its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 218,089 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,128 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $33,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in PepsiCo by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company's stock worth $20,280,471,000 after buying an additional 1,376,133 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company's stock worth $4,717,069,000 after acquiring an additional 582,254 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,856,193 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $2,729,565,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.2% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the subject of several research reports. CICC Research reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays lowered shares of PepsiCo from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $168.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $155.00 price objective (down from $185.00) on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $168.12.

PepsiCo Trading Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ PEP traded up $2.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $142.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,052,161 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,108,149. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $138.33 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $148.22 and a 200 day moving average of $155.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49.

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

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

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