PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Stock Falls 1.6% Following Analyst Downgrade

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) was down 1.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $161.00 to $150.00. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. PepsiCo traded as low as $123.47 and last traded at $123.73. 13,242,679 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 66% from the average daily volume of 7,984,781 shares. The stock had previously closed at $125.71.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $138.00 target price on PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $145.00 to $133.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $173.00 to $164.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $176.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PepsiCo news, EVP David Flavell sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.54, for a total transaction of $404,666.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 74,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,441,080.50. This trade represents a 3.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Trending Headlines about PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo’s bottling partnership with Carlsberg is expanding into Georgia and Armenia, increasing PepsiCo’s distribution reach to 17 markets across Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The move could support international beverage growth with limited capital investment. PepsiCo Expanded Its Bottling Reach To 17 Markets
• Positive Sentiment: A Delhi High Court ruling allows PepsiCo and partners to continue selling existing products labeled as “energy drinks,” providing a temporary reprieve from an Indian labeling dispute, although new production under the label remains restricted. Delhi High Court Energy Drink Ruling
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo is emphasizing smaller packs and affordability-focused pricing to improve volumes as consumers become more price-sensitive. Its long record of dividend increases also remains attractive to income-oriented investors, with the stock’s roughly 4.7% yield offering support. PepsiCo Price-Pack Strategy
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo reports fiscal third-quarter results before the market opens on October 8. Analysts expect approximately $2.29–$2.30 in adjusted EPS and nearly $25 billion in revenue; investors will closely watch North American food volumes, pricing, margins, and management’s full-year outlook. PepsiCo Q3 Earnings Preview
• Negative Sentiment: Reports say U.S. snack sales remain weak and PepsiCo is under pressure to revive growth and meet targets established after Elliott Investment Management’s investment. Analysts and options traders see limited upside if the earnings report is soft, while RBC lowered its price target to $150 and retained a sector-perform rating. PepsiCo Growth and GLP-1 Pressure
• Negative Sentiment: The rapid adoption of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs is raising concerns that consumers may reduce purchases of salty snacks and sugary beverages, creating a longer-term threat to PepsiCo’s growth goals. PepsiCo GLP-1 Threat
• Negative Sentiment: PepsiCo also recalled approximately 122,000 cases of Gatorade over undeclared dyes, creating potential costs and reputational risk, though the recall appears limited relative to the company’s overall scale. PepsiCo Gatorade Recall

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 118,281,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,015,363,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440,377 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,406,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,179,099,000 after purchasing an additional 987,582 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 14,857.8% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 49,252,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,068,777,000 after purchasing an additional 48,923,629 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in PepsiCo by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,283,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,305,146,000 after buying an additional 133,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,817,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,600,114,000 after buying an additional 549,336 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $168.88 billion, a PE ratio of 16.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $136.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 9th. The company reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 54.63%. The business had revenue of $24.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. PepsiCo has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.550-8.710 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th were issued a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 77.59%.

PepsiCo Company Profile

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ:PEP) is a global food and beverage company that develops, manufactures, markets and distributes a broad portfolio of snacks, drinks and convenient foods. Its beverage brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, 7UP in select markets, and bubly, while its food and snack brands include Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Tostitos, Fritos, Quaker and Ruffles.

The company’s operations include beverage production and distribution, snack foods, convenient meals and nutrition-oriented products.