PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading Down 2.1% - Should You Sell?

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 2.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $140.67 and last traded at $143.51. 5,374,839 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 10% from the average session volume of 5,944,592 shares. The stock had previously closed at $146.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PEP shares. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $171.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays cut shares of PepsiCo from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $168.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $169.88.

PepsiCo Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.95. The firm has a market cap of $198.38 billion, a PE ratio of 20.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo's payout ratio is 77.99%.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 104.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company's stock valued at $259,350,000 after acquiring an additional 870,451 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company's stock worth $6,323,000 after purchasing an additional 4,712 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,236,788 shares of the company's stock worth $188,031,000 after purchasing an additional 61,541 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 147.6% during the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 14,692 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,229,000 after buying an additional 8,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 48.2% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 56,089 shares of the company's stock worth $8,529,000 after buying an additional 18,250 shares in the last quarter. 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.