Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 360,936 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 33,617,937 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 360,936 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $4,814,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,875,205,000 after buying an additional 1,612,652 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,499,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,356,155,000 after buying an additional 1,079,970 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,617,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,912,476,000 after buying an additional 958,701 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,005,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,292,479,000 after buying an additional 102,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,207,230,000 after buying an additional 1,995,362 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of PEP opened at $147.74 on Thursday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $171.48. The company has a 50-day moving average of $153.52 and a 200 day moving average of $152.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.19, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 56.61%. The company had revenue of $19.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.32%.

PepsiCo declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Evercore raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $170.00 in a report on Friday, April 17th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on PepsiCo from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.11.

Key Headlines Impacting PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler reaffirmed a Buy rating on PepsiCo with a $181 price target, suggesting analysts still see upside despite rising inflation concerns. Piper Sandler Sticks With Buy Rating on PepsiCo (PEP) Amid Inflation Concerns
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo is highlighting its product quality and marketing with new packaging that will carry a “no artificial flavours or colours” label, which could help reinforce consumer trust and support demand for its brands. PepsiCo new packaging to carry ‘no artificial flavours or colours’ label
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo management said the company is emphasizing “hustle,” curiosity, and adaptability in hiring as AI reshapes talent needs. This is more of a workforce/culture update than an immediate earnings driver. As Amazon And Others Turn To AI Hiring Tools, PepsiCo Doubles Down On ‘Hustle’ And Curiosity
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analyst and industry pieces noted that PepsiCo’s valuation targets have been adjusted modestly and that the soft drink sector is facing tariff and cost pressures, but these updates were largely incremental rather than a major change in fundamentals. How The PepsiCo (PEP) Story Is Shifting As Analysts Rework Targets And Assumptions
• Negative Sentiment: One market report said PepsiCo stock underperformed peers on Tuesday, reflecting some relative weakness versus competitors even as broader sector themes remained mixed. PepsiCo Inc. stock underperforms Tuesday when compared to competitors

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.