Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ:KDP) Upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ:KDP) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $40.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 16.89% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on KDP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Keurig Dr Pepper in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Keurig Dr Pepper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays set a $39.00 target price on Keurig Dr Pepper in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Keurig Dr Pepper presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.38.

Keurig Dr Pepper Price Performance

Shares of KDP opened at $34.22 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.62. Keurig Dr Pepper has a 1 year low of $30.12 and a 1 year high of $38.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $32.77 and a 200-day moving average of $33.50.

Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ:KDP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.01. Keurig Dr Pepper had a return on equity of 10.45% and a net margin of 15.04%. The business had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Keurig Dr Pepper will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Keurig Dr Pepper

In related news, VP Angela A. Stephens sold 7,350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.17, for a total value of $251,149.50. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 74,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,548,637.79. This trade represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Robert James Gamgort sold 416,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.29, for a total value of $14,264,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 3,237,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,998,993.14. The trade was a 11.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 84,397,350 shares of company stock valued at $2,756,292,570. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Keurig Dr Pepper

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,998,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,182,000 after purchasing an additional 119,546 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,000 after acquiring an additional 2,355 shares in the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new position in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper in the 4th quarter worth about $11,863,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Keurig Dr Pepper during the 4th quarter valued at about $102,000. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its holdings in Keurig Dr Pepper by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 74,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,408,000 after buying an additional 12,475 shares during the last quarter. 93.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Keurig Dr Pepper

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc owns, manufactures, and distributors beverages and single serve brewing systems in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Refreshment Beverages, U.S. Coffee, and International. The U.S. Refreshment Beverages segment manufactures and distributes branded concentrates, syrup, and finished beverages.