Intel Corporation (INTC) and PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) Among Companies with Notable Insider Selling Activity

PepsiCo Registers Insider Selling Activity Last Week

PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE:PEP) had not seen any insiders buy or sell shares for several months until last week. Cynthia M. Trudell, Chief Human Resources Officer and Executive Vice President of Human Resources, sold 8,000 shares on Wednesday for $104.23 each, trimming her holding to 39,592 shares.

PepsiCo’s shares have increased by 8% in the past 12 months and are currently trading slightly below their 52-week high of $105.77 reached earlier this month. The recent insider selling comes after the snack and beverage giant released its first quarter earnings report, which showed that the company’s North American beverage volume increased by 1% year-over-year due to a 7% increase in non-carbonated beverage volume. The non-carbonated beverage volume increase was driven by double-digit growth in PepsiCo’s water portfolio, along with mid-single-digit growth in Gatorade sports drinks and double-digit growth in Lipton ready-to-drink teas. Thus, it appears that the company has been successful in finding new beverages to compensate for declining cola sales.

However, analysts and investors might be worried about the company’s current valuation, as investors have turned their attention to defensive income stocks such as PepsiCo amid increased broader market volatility and uncertainty. PepsiCo boasts a dividend yield of 2.75%, while its 74% dividend payout ratio for 2016 suggests that the snack and beverage company will have to keep improving bottom-line figures to maintain its Dividend King title. Shares of PepsiCo are priced at 20.0-times expected earnings, above the forward P/E multiple of 17.8 for the S&P 500 gauge. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management had 5.36 million shares of PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE:PEP) in its equity portfolio at the end of March.

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