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

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 52,082 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 85% compared to the average volume of 28,094 call options.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP stock opened at $153.88 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $148.73 and a 200-day moving average of $161.14. The firm has a market cap of $211.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo has a 12-month low of $141.51 and a 12-month high of $183.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The business’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

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 $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PEP. Copley Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 4,210.1% in the fourth quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 2,905 shares during the last quarter. GHE LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 12,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,946,000 after buying an additional 682 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth $160,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth about $221,297,000. Finally, Brooklyn FI LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at about $259,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. HSBC decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. BNP Paribas reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Company Profile

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.