Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of PepsiCo Put Options (NASDAQ:PEP)

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders acquired 33,914 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 59% compared to the typical volume of 21,389 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $183.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com raised PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley cut PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $179.00 to $184.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $184.31.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake in PepsiCo by 59.0% during 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. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in PepsiCo by 93.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP traded down $1.79 on Thursday, hitting $150.27. 2,462,774 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,585,426. PepsiCo has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $183.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.49. The company has a market cap of $206.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $23.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.86 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 57.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that PepsiCo will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 79.94%.

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.