Morgan Stanley Cuts PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Price Target to $153.00

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by Morgan Stanley from $168.00 to $153.00 in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's target price points to a potential upside of 13.92% from the stock's current price.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday. CICC Research reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $163.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $160.69.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP stock traded up $0.55 on Friday, reaching $134.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,007,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,165,396. The company has a market capitalization of $184.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $147.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.37. PepsiCo has a 12-month low of $131.61 and a 12-month high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The company had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.61 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that PepsiCo will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company's stock worth $20,280,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,133 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in PepsiCo by 1.9% during the fourth 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 during the period. 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 worth $3,834,504,000 after acquiring an additional 3,856,193 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $2,729,565,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,403,395 shares of the company's stock worth $2,494,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,818 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Company Profile

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.