PepsiCo Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:PEP)

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 61,177 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 84% compared to the average daily volume of 33,265 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the subject of several research reports. Dbs Bank lowered shares of PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $160.69.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nova Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of PepsiCo stock traded down $1.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $130.03. 7,619,600 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,594,477. 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 fifty day moving average is $136.15 and its 200 day moving average is $146.25. The firm has a market cap of $178.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. PepsiCo has a 1 year low of $127.75 and a 1 year high of $180.91.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last posted 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 analysts' expectations of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PepsiCo will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 4.38%. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.68%.

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.