Investors Purchase High Volume of PepsiCo Put Options (NASDAQ:PEP)

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 72,046 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 58% compared to the average volume of 45,668 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 136,936,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,081,034,000 after acquiring an additional 1,761,785 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 58,419,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,713,757,000 after acquiring an additional 920,045 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 0.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,675,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,301,240,000 after acquiring an additional 86,695 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 9.7% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,031,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,833,406,000 after purchasing an additional 2,556,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the second quarter worth approximately $2,330,594,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $150.12 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $145.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.66. PepsiCo has a 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $169.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.54, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 9th. The company reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $23.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.91 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.58% and a net margin of 7.82%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. PepsiCo has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.120-8.120 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on PepsiCo from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. UBS Group decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on PepsiCo from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on PepsiCo from $153.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on PepsiCo from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.95.

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.