Argent Trust Co Lowers Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Argent Trust Co trimmed its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 102,715 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,066 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $15,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Collier Financial purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PEP. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, CICC Research reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $169.88.

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PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP stock traded up $1.00 during trading on Monday, reaching $145.43. The company had a trading volume of 2,265,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,073,342. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $138.33 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The company has a market cap of $199.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.68.

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

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.99%.

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.