PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Stock Rating Lowered by Morgan Stanley

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) was downgraded by Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $185.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 8.07% from the stock’s current price.

PEP has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays upped their target price on PepsiCo from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. DZ Bank lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $183.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $177.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $185.53.

PepsiCo Stock Down 2.0 %

PEP stock opened at $171.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. PepsiCo has a 52 week low of $155.83 and a 52 week high of $183.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $235.13 billion, a PE ratio of 24.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $173.51 and a 200 day moving average of $171.81.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) 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 10.34%. The firm had revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in PepsiCo by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,547,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,234,400,000 after buying an additional 905,468 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in PepsiCo by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,673,632,000 after purchasing an additional 700,092 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,403,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,221,089,000 after purchasing an additional 561,465 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.1% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,130,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $846,030,000 after buying an additional 57,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 5,121,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $869,869,000 after buying an additional 693,873 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

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.