First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 59,356 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,099,435 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 59,356 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.30% of PepsiCo worth $575,725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 59,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,031,000 after purchasing an additional 6,574 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in PepsiCo during the first quarter worth $251,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 138.5% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $862,000 after buying an additional 3,790 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its position in PepsiCo by 10.1% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 38,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,039,000 after acquiring an additional 3,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ PEP opened at $159.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.48. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $155.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $149.32. The company has a market cap of $217.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.39.

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

PepsiCo announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.83%.

Key Headlines Impacting PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Product innovation and brand initiatives support long‑term growth — PepsiCo is rolling out Gatorade Lower Sugar nationwide, expanding poppi into the U.K., and using pop‑culture tie‑ins for bubly, signalling renewed focus on higher‑growth, “better‑for‑you” beverage categories that can help revenue/margin mix over time. PepsiCo Leans On Health Drinks And Pop Culture As Shares Lag Targets
• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly results and underlying sales growth remain supportive — post‑Q4 coverage discusses the modest EPS beat and revenue growth, reinforcing the company’s steady cash generation and dividend/ buyback capacity. This underpins investor confidence in the defensive consumer staple story. PepsiCo (PEP): Buy, sell, or hold post Q4 earnings?
• Positive Sentiment: Large bullish options activity suggests some traders expect a rally — unusually high call buying (vastly above average daily volume) can indicate speculative or hedged bullish interest that may fuel upward momentum if fundamentals or sentiment improve. (Note: internal market data)
• Neutral Sentiment: Income appeal remains a structural tailwind — dividend‑focused publications continue to highlight PepsiCo as a holding for yield/defensive exposure amid macro uncertainty, which can support the share price over time even if near‑term volatility occurs. The NASDAQ Dividend Stocks Retirees Are Loading Up On Before The Next Rate Cut
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector re‑rating conversations persist — consumer‑staples roundups list PepsiCo among stable dividend names; useful for longer‑term allocation but unlikely to trigger sharp immediate moves absent new data. 5 Consumer-Staples Stocks to Buy as the Market Gets Shakier
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest update — recent reporting on short interest provides data investors watch for squeeze/pressure dynamics but by itself doesn’t change fundamentals. PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Short Interest Update
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/investor‑litigation headline increases risk premium — a new investor alert around possible breaches of fiduciary duty draws attention to governance/legal risk that can pressure sentiment and valuation. PEPSICO, INC. INVESTOR ALERT: Scott+Scott … Investigates PepsiCo, Inc.’s Directors and Officers
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term analyst/market skepticism — coverage noting that shares are “lagging targets” and articles flagging the stock among “unpopular” names highlight downward analyst pressure and sentiment risk, which can drive short‑term selling. 3 Unpopular Stocks with Open Questions
• Negative Sentiment: Price underperformance versus the market — headlines documenting a recent intraday dip show immediate selling pressure; combined with low average volume today, this can amplify moves on negative news. PepsiCo (PEP) Dips More Than Broader Market: What You Should Know

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $154.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Barclays raised their target price on PepsiCo from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. HSBC boosted their price target on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $164.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.50.

PepsiCo 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.