PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading 0.6% Higher – Should You Buy?

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s stock price traded up 0.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $165.53 and last traded at $165.04. 633,213 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 5,445,430 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America cut their target price on PepsiCo from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. TD Cowen cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $190.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $183.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $183.92.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $172.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $171.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $226.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.32% and a net margin of 10.18%. The firm had revenue of $23.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,547,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,234,400,000 after purchasing an additional 905,468 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 7.4% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,673,632,000 after buying an additional 700,092 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in PepsiCo by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,403,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,221,089,000 after buying an additional 561,465 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,130,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $846,030,000 after acquiring an additional 57,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,876,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $676,036,000 after acquiring an additional 492,888 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.