PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading Down 0.2% – Time to Sell?

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s share price was down 0.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $141.71 and last traded at $142.59. Approximately 1,734,455 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 6,070,458 shares. The stock had previously closed at $142.84.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PEP. StockNews.com lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays cut PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $168.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $168.12.

PepsiCo Trading Up 2.0 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $148.22 and a 200-day moving average of $155.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $195.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PEP. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,280,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,133 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,717,069,000 after buying an additional 582,254 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $2,729,565,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,403,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,494,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,818 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is 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.