PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading 0.6% Higher – Here’s Why

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. DZ Bank downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $183.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $183.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research 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.com, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $183.92.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.7 %

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $172.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.11. 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 stock has a market cap of $226.54 billion, a PE ratio of 24.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $23.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.86 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.32% and a net margin of 10.18%. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 17,113.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,220,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $547,626,000 after acquiring an additional 3,201,676 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 211.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,343 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 125.2% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,740,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,003,000 after purchasing an additional 1,523,631 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew 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 valued at $2,234,400,000 after buying an additional 905,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the third quarter worth $151,749,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently 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.