PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Stock Price Up 0.8% – Should You Buy?

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s share price traded up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $174.00 and last traded at $173.55. 641,138 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 5,451,396 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.16.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $183.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. DZ Bank lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $183.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of PepsiCo to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $183.92.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $237.11 billion, a PE ratio of 25.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $172.23.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $23.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.86 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 57.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 4.4% during the second quarter. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.2% in the second quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 59.0% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Stockton raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.3% in the second quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 2,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oxbow Advisors LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 0.7% in the second quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 8,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,481,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 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.