PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Price Target Cut to $168.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) had its price target dropped by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $168.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 17.08% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on PEP. UBS Group cut their price target on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Tuesday. HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of PepsiCo to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.53.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $143.49 on Wednesday. PepsiCo has a 1-year low of $141.51 and a 1-year high of $183.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $152.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $164.71. The company has a market cap of $196.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.16, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.54.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.32% and a net margin of 10.18%. The company’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that PepsiCo will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 13,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,090,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015 shares in the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its stake in PepsiCo by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 543,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,579,000 after purchasing an additional 11,300 shares in the last quarter. Apriem Advisors lifted its position in PepsiCo by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Apriem Advisors now owns 4,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $632,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,698,000 after buying an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth $203,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by 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.