Rathbones Group PLC Sells 72,416 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Rathbones Group PLC lessened its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 22.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 255,942 shares of the company’s stock after selling 72,416 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $35,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the second quarter worth approximately $2,330,594,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 14,420.2% in the 2nd 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 stake in PepsiCo by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,031,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,833,406,000 after buying an additional 2,556,163 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 19.5% during the 2nd 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 boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 112.6% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on PEP. HSBC upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays raised their target price on PepsiCo from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $168.50.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $159.43 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $217.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $155.04 and a 200 day moving average of $149.30.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $29.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

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

PepsiCo announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

More PepsiCo News

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

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.