Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Cuts Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. cut its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 14.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 93,116 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,046 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $13,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 59,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,031,000 after buying an additional 6,574 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $251,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 138.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $862,000 after acquiring an additional 3,790 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 38,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,039,000 after acquiring an additional 3,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WealthShield Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 10,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PepsiCo stock opened at $159.88 on Monday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.48. The company has a market capitalization of $218.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.65, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $156.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $149.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.85.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $29.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.96 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.92% and a net margin of 8.77%.The business’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.83%.

PepsiCo declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PEP shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on PepsiCo from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on PepsiCo from $154.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore boosted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $152.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.00.

PepsiCo Company Profile

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ: PEP) is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.