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

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 52,082 call options on the company. This is an increase of 85% compared to the average volume of 28,094 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PEP shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler began coverage on PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, HSBC reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $154.19 on Wednesday. PepsiCo has a 1 year low of $141.51 and a 1 year high of $183.41. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $148.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.20. The company has a market cap of $211.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in PepsiCo by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,280,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,133 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,738,429,000 after buying an additional 2,775,679 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 holdings in 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 buying an additional 3,856,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth $2,729,565,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.