PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading Up 0.9% - Still a Buy?

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) traded up 0.9% on Monday . The company traded as high as $135.41 and last traded at $134.64. 2,183,182 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 6,137,872 shares. The stock had previously closed at $133.38.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. BNP Paribas reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $163.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $185.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $146.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.12.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm's revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. Analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is currently 79.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,280,471,000 after buying an additional 1,376,133 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in PepsiCo by 18.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,856,193 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,729,565,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in PepsiCo by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,403,395 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,494,300,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306,818 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.