Cullen Investment Group LTD. Sells 24,619 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Cullen Investment Group LTD. lessened its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 31.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,680 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,619 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo comprises 1.0% of Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $7,510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PEP. Norges Bank bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,330,594,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 120.7% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,916,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $830,902,000 after buying an additional 3,235,726 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 112.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,040,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $533,452,000 after buying an additional 2,139,847 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,207,230,000 after acquiring an additional 1,995,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 60.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,051,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,378,000 after acquiring an additional 1,897,865 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their target price on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Citigroup increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on PepsiCo from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Eight research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.00.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $151.73 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $158.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $149.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $171.48.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $29.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.96 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.92% and a net margin of 8.77%.PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 94.83%.

PepsiCo announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Key PepsiCo News

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo launched a global “Pepsi Football Nation” platform to deepen fan engagement around football — a large, event-driven marketing push that can boost brand visibility, seasonal sales and promotional leverage. PepsiCo launches global ‘Pepsi Football Nation’ platform focused on fan culture
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/upbeat coverage: Zacks highlights PepsiCo as a long‑term growth stock citing consistent brand strength and growth initiatives — supportive for investor sentiment. Why PepsiCo (PEP) is a Top Growth Stock for the Long-Term
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend‑income appeal: inclusion among recommended “beaten‑down dividend aristocrats” keeps income‑focused buyers interested in PEP’s yield and defensive profile. 3 Beaten-Down Dividend Aristocrats to Scoop Up While Wall Street Chases AI Stocks Into a Cliff
• Positive Sentiment: Sector dynamic: reporting that Coca‑Cola faces 2026 margin pressure could be a relative positive for PepsiCo if PepsiCo can maintain pricing/actions while Coke lags. Coca-Cola Faces Margin Pressure: Can Pricing Power Hold?
• Neutral Sentiment: Investment thesis nuance: a Yahoo Finance piece discusses how PepsiCo’s investment story is shifting around pricing and 2026 growth expectations — useful context but mixed for near‑term price action. How The PepsiCo (PEP) Investment Story Is Shifting On Pricing And 2026 Growth Hopes
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest reports circulating show “significant increases” but list zero shares and 0.0 days to cover — this appears to be a data glitch and should not be treated as actionable.
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate/community items (PepsiCo Foundation partnership with SUNY Westchester) are positive for ESG/PR but unlikely to move near‑term fundamentals. SUNY Westchester Community College and the PepsiCo Foundation Highlight Student Pathways to Career Success
• Neutral Sentiment: Miscellaneous sector/competitor stories and unrelated company news (e.g., Reed’s CEO change, snack‑discontinuation chatter) create background noise but have limited direct impact on PEP unless tied to category supply/portfolio shifts. Reed’s CEO steps down, COO named interim chief

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.