PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Up 0.6% Following Analyst Upgrade

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) shares shot up 0.6% during trading on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $184.00 to $185.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. PepsiCo traded as high as $180.63 and last traded at $178.54. 2,640,200 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 5,808,147 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.41.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Argus downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.42.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 59.4% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 993,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,747,000 after buying an additional 370,122 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,747,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $405,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 13,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,091,000 after buying an additional 3,159 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.4 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $169.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.76. The company has a market capitalization of $242.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.53. 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 data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $1.265 per share. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 76.09%.

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.