American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 532,694 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 21.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,061,987 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 532,694 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.22% of PepsiCo worth $430,026,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,330,594,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 14,420.2% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,890,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $513,726,000 after purchasing an additional 3,863,893 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 9.7% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,031,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,833,406,000 after buying an additional 2,556,163 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 19.5% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,577,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,056,797,000 after buying an additional 2,541,455 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in PepsiCo by 112.6% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,040,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,452,000 after buying an additional 2,139,847 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $156.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $161.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $191.00 price target on PepsiCo in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on PepsiCo from $164.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on PepsiCo from $163.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.00.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $169.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $231.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.29, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $153.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.67. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $171.48.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $29.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.96 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.92% and a net margin of 8.77%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.83%.

PepsiCo declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication 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 is launching its Poppi soda brand in the UK — its first rollout outside the U.S. — which broadens international growth avenues for a fast‑growing beverage SKU and leverages local bottler Carlsberg Britvic for production and distribution. poppi lands in the UK
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend narrative remains supportive: coverage pieces continue to highlight PepsiCo’s long dividend track record and yield profile, attracting income‑focused investors and providing a defensive valuation underpin. Dividend King coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Management/marketing moves and digital push — PepsiCo elevated Mira Medhat to a regional beverages marketing role and is leaning into social media influencers (TikTok) to drive brand buzz, indicating active investment in demand creation for beverage SKUs. Marketing director promotion
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention metrics: tools and sites (Zacks/other screens) show elevated interest in PEP — higher searches can increase short‑term liquidity and volatility but are not directional on fundamentals. Zacks investor interest
• Neutral Sentiment: Nearby competitor/asset news — Celsius Holdings reported strong results after acquiring Rockstar (previously part of PepsiCo). Celsius strength is an industry datapoint but doesn’t directly change PepsiCo’s core beverage economics. Celsius earnings and Rockstar note
• Negative Sentiment: PepsiCo will close a Frito‑Lay warehouse in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, laying off ~248 workers — a cost/supply‑chain action that reduces capacity and creates short‑term disruption and local PR/ESG scrutiny. Frito‑Lay warehouse closure
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest rose sharply in February (≈25% increase month‑over‑month) — a higher short base can amplify downside risk and volatility if negative news or earnings miss occurs. (Data reported in market summaries.)
• Negative Sentiment: Proxy/ESG issue: a shareholder action over animal welfare was halted after PepsiCo relented on a demand — the resolution removes litigation uncertainty but signals concession on an ESG matter, which may concern some investors. Animal welfare proxy suit halted

About PepsiCo

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.