PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Up 2.2% – Time to Buy?

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s stock price shot up 2.2% during mid-day trading on Friday. The stock traded as high as $145.78 and last traded at $145.44. 7,832,708 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 5% from the average daily volume of 8,265,915 shares. The stock had previously closed at $142.26.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $176.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $133.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $132.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.28.

PepsiCo Trading Up 2.2%

The firm has a market cap of $198.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.31. The business has a 50 day moving average of $133.64 and a 200 day moving average of $145.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 7th. The company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $25.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.95 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 53.08%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ramon Laguarta sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.13, for a total transaction of $4,053,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 491,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,435,988.85. This represents a 5.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Pohlad bought 184,646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $128.28 per share, for a total transaction of $23,686,388.88. Following the transaction, the director owned 433,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,546,394.52. The trade was a 74.35% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Ankerstar Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ankerstar Wealth LLC now owns 2,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 164,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,901,000 after buying an additional 25,116 shares during the period. Acorns Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Acorns Advisers LLC now owns 2,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,555,000 after buying an additional 922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, L2 Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 73.5% during the 3rd quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 55,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,990,000 after buying an additional 23,373 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Company Profile

PepsiCo, Inc. is a global food and beverage company that develops, manufactures, markets and distributes a broad range of products. Its portfolio includes snacks such as Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, as well as beverages including Pepsi, Gatorade and Mountain Dew. The company was formed in 1965 through the merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay. Its products are sold in more than 200 countries and territories through retail, food-service and other distribution channels. PepsiCo is headquartered in Purchase, New York.