Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP)

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 53,995 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 33% compared to the average daily volume of 40,619 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 59,392 shares of the company's stock worth $9,031,000 after acquiring an additional 6,574 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in PepsiCo by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 470,387 shares of the company's stock worth $71,527,000 after purchasing an additional 11,538 shares in the last quarter. Pring Turner Capital Group Inc. raised its position in PepsiCo by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Pring Turner Capital Group Inc. now owns 1,545 shares of the company's stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 44,626 shares of the company's stock worth $6,808,000 after buying an additional 6,252 shares during the period. Finally, CWS Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,140 shares of the company's stock worth $1,694,000 after buying an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock traded up $2.82 during trading on Friday, reaching $131.04. 26,530,795 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,970,251. PepsiCo has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $180.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.93. The company has a market capitalization of $179.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.45.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.28% and a net margin of 10.24%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. The business's revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This is a boost from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is currently 83.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Dbs Bank cut shares of PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $159.75.

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.