PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading Down 0.1% – Time to Sell?

Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) dropped 0.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $138.33 and last traded at $140.14. Approximately 2,210,648 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 5,988,334 shares. The stock had previously closed at $140.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PEP. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.88.

PepsiCo Trading Up 2.5 %

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $148.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.39. The company has a market capitalization of $197.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sweeney & Michel LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the first quarter worth about $571,000. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 21,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,223,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the period. QV Investors Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 22.3% during the first quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 116,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,511,000 after purchasing an additional 21,290 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 111,652.0% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 27,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,189,000 after acquiring an additional 27,913 shares during the period. Finally, Talbot Financial LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 56,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,417,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.