PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Up 0.9%

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s share price shot up 0.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $171.61 and last traded at $171.21. 1,384,926 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 5,458,634 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PEP shares. StockNews.com lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $182.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $185.53.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market cap of $234.10 billion, a PE ratio of 24.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $173.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $171.95.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.59 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The business’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. Research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 78.66%.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 7.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,547,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,234,400,000 after buying an additional 905,468 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,673,632,000 after purchasing an additional 700,092 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 8.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,403,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,221,089,000 after purchasing an additional 561,465 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.1% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,130,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $846,030,000 after buying an additional 57,322 shares during the period. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch AG grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 67.2% in the first quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 4,560,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $798,047,000 after buying an additional 1,832,385 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.