Investors Buy Large Volume of PepsiCo Call Options (NASDAQ:PEP)

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders purchased 92,829 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 296% compared to the typical daily volume of 23,471 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 554,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,916,000 after acquiring an additional 19,218 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 415,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,600,000 after purchasing an additional 42,335 shares during the period. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 622.3% in the fourth quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. now owns 35,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,110,000 after purchasing an additional 30,674 shares during the period. Allstate Corp raised its stake in PepsiCo by 108.1% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 104,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,030,000 after purchasing an additional 54,405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its position in PepsiCo by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,143,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $451,218,000 after purchasing an additional 77,051 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $138.68 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The company has a market capitalization of $189.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.35. PepsiCo has a 12 month low of $130.59 and a 12 month high of $171.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $148.00 and a 200-day moving average of $152.02.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.The business had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 92.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on PEP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $173.00 to $168.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $143.00 price target on the stock. Evercore increased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $182.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $166.85.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ: PEP) is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.