Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP)

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders acquired 45,894 call options on the company. This is an increase of 96% compared to the average daily volume of 23,469 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in PepsiCo by 3.6% in the third 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 last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its position in PepsiCo by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 415,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,600,000 after acquiring an additional 42,335 shares during the last quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. grew its position in PepsiCo by 622.3% in the fourth quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. now owns 35,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,110,000 after acquiring an additional 30,674 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 104,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,030,000 after purchasing an additional 54,405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 65.8% during the third quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 577,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,049,000 after purchasing an additional 229,121 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Up 1.5%

PEP stock traded up $2.18 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $146.45. 5,277,112 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,511,177. The company has a market capitalization of $200.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. PepsiCo has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.48. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $152.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 56.61%. The company had revenue of $19.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.89 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that PepsiCo will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 92.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PEP. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $154.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Argus raised shares of PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $167.35.

PepsiCo Company Profile

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.