PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Stock Price Up 0.1%

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s stock price was up 0.1% on Monday . The company traded as high as $176.32 and last traded at $175.68. Approximately 796,225 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 5,792,084 shares. The stock had previously closed at $175.58.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PEP shares. Argus cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Citigroup upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. 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 research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.42.

PepsiCo Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $241.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.46, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $1.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,686,139,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 9,623.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,058,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $519,381,000 after buying an additional 3,026,611 shares during the period. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo in the third quarter valued at approximately $329,179,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 121.4% in the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,727,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,259,000 after buying an additional 1,495,586 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake 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 valued at $1,641,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,064 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is 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.