JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Price Target to $184.00

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) had its price target lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $181.00 to $184.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 10.67% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Argus lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.38.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of PEP stock opened at $166.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $228.57 billion, a PE ratio of 25.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $173.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.35. PepsiCo has a 1-year low of $155.83 and a 1-year high of $192.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. PepsiCo’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that PepsiCo will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PepsiCo news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,360.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 53,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,603,634. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PEP. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 6.7% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 54,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,298,000 after acquiring an additional 3,430 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in PepsiCo by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 299,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,698,000 after buying an additional 10,356 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its position in PepsiCo by 642.4% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 2,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 2,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 3,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $641,000 after buying an additional 725 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.