PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading 0.1% Higher

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s stock price traded up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $173.51 and last traded at $172.37. 1,627,582 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 5,665,606 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PEP shares. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Argus cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.92.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $168.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $167.42. The company has a market cap of $237.82 billion, a PE ratio of 26.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.03% and a net margin of 9.92%. The firm had revenue of $27.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $1.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 77.02%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 95,514.1% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,876,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,746,023,000 after acquiring an additional 42,831,405 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 26,720,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,827,240,000 after buying an additional 4,629,947 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in PepsiCo by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,001,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,227,287,000 after buying an additional 578,083 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,878,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,859,812,000 after acquiring an additional 595,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,686,139,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

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.