PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Short Interest Down 15.5% in December

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP – Get Rating) saw a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 30th, there was short interest totalling 9,730,000 shares, a decline of 15.5% from the December 15th total of 11,520,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,860,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Paula Santilli sold 2,787 shares of PepsiCo stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.63, for a total transaction of $500,628.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,777,261.11. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Marie T. Gallagher sold 5,558 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.01, for a total value of $1,000,495.58. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 41,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,415,511.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Paula Santilli sold 2,787 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.63, for a total value of $500,628.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,777,261.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,739 shares of company stock worth $5,612,386 over the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Lehman & Derafelo Financial Resources LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Lehman & Derafelo Financial Resources LLC now owns 2,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth $755,000. Advisor Resource Council bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth $407,000. Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monterey Private Wealth Inc. boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. now owns 8,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,545,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 6th. Credit Suisse Group reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $173.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 20th. Wedbush upped their target price on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on PepsiCo from $188.00 to $186.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $183.36.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $169.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $234.05 billion, a PE ratio of 24.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.57. PepsiCo has a 1 year low of $153.37 and a 1 year high of $186.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $180.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 2nd were paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend 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.