PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Short Interest Update

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP – Get Rating) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 30th, there was short interest totalling 9,730,000 shares, a decrease of 15.5% from the December 15th total of 11,520,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,860,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PepsiCo news, CFO Hugh F. Johnston sold 23,394 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.74, for a total value of $4,111,261.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 128,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,553,065.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Marie T. Gallagher sold 5,558 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.01, for a total transaction of $1,000,495.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 41,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,415,511.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Hugh F. Johnston sold 23,394 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.74, for a total value of $4,111,261.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 128,332 shares in the company, valued at $22,553,065.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,739 shares of company stock worth $5,612,386 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,842,000 after purchasing an additional 4,628 shares during the period. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,313,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 5,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 24,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,449,000 after buying an additional 1,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in PepsiCo by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 120,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,773,000 after buying an additional 9,105 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on PEP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 6th. Barclays raised their price target on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 14th. StockNews.com upgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 20th. Redburn Partners began coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, November 4th. They set a “sell” rating and a $141.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $183.36.

PepsiCo Trading Down 1.2 %

PEP opened at $169.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $233.70 billion, a PE ratio of 24.27, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The business has a 50 day moving average of $180.78 and a 200-day moving average of $176.09. PepsiCo has a 52 week low of $153.37 and a 52 week high of $186.84.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 2nd were paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 1st. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 65.81%.

PepsiCo Company Profile

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PepsiCo, Inc manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells 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.