PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading Up 0.5%

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) shares were up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $163.63 and last traded at $163.46. Approximately 778,273 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 5,445,051 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PEP shares. BNP Paribas started coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Argus downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.64.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $225.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $172.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.13.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PEP. Strategy Asset Managers LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 0.9% in the first quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 6,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,161,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.