PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Price Target Cut to $185.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) had its price target lowered by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $185.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 10.59% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $182.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on PepsiCo from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $177.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.27.

PepsiCo Stock Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:PEP traded up $3.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $167.29. 3,548,876 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,507,400. PepsiCo has a fifty-two week low of $155.83 and a fifty-two week high of $192.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The company has a market capitalization of $229.99 billion, a PE ratio of 25.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $171.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.99.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The business had revenue of $22.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at PepsiCo

In other news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total value of $1,000,360.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at $9,603,634. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,001,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,227,287,000 after purchasing an additional 578,083 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,686,139,000. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,641,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,064 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,520,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in PepsiCo by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,421,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,430,250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,127 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.