PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Down 1.3% - Should You Sell?

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) traded down 1.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $127.75 and last traded at $128.49. 3,070,777 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 6,433,358 shares. The stock had previously closed at $130.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on PEP. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $163.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.5%

The company has a market cap of $177.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.59, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $139.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.40%. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is 83.68%.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at $2,729,565,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the 1st quarter valued at about $946,978,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 19,106.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,588,614 shares of the company's stock worth $688,017,000 after acquiring an additional 4,564,723 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $589,307,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently 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.

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