PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading Down 2.4%

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s share price fell 2.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $170.14 and last traded at $172.20. 3,411,047 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 40% from the average session volume of 5,720,075 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.46.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on PEP. Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. StockNews.com cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday. Barclays raised their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.33.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $169.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $243.85 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.50 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued 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 2.85%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.09%.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in PepsiCo by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,001,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,227,287,000 after buying an additional 578,083 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in PepsiCo by 3.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,878,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,859,812,000 after buying an additional 595,357 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $2,686,139,000. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,641,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,520,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345,065 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.