PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Stock Price Down 0.2%

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) traded down 0.2% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $174.34 and last traded at $176.37. 1,261,175 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 5,812,822 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.42.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.6 %

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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $169.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.76. The company has a market cap of $241.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $1.265 per share. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wagner Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 12.4% in the third quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Dominguez Wealth Management Solutions Inc. grew its position in PepsiCo by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dominguez Wealth Management Solutions Inc. now owns 5,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $969,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 13,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,213,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.4% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 19,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,235,000 after buying an additional 978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marion Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.3% in the third quarter. Marion Wealth Management now owns 5,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,015,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. 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.