PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP Shares Purchased by Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1,763.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 64,787 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 61,310 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo comprises approximately 1.5% of Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $9,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 107.1% during the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 667.7% in the third quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PEP shares. BNP Paribas Exane set a $191.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. HSBC lifted their price objective on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on PepsiCo from $154.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on PepsiCo from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.00.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of PEP opened at $156.50 on Wednesday. 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. The stock has a market cap of $213.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $157.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $149.84.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $29.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.96 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.92% and a net margin of 8.77%.PepsiCo’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.83%.

PepsiCo declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

PepsiCo News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler raised its price target on PepsiCo to $181 (from $172) and kept an Overweight rating, citing pricing power and innovation tailwinds — a clear analyst endorsement that can support the stock. Piper Sandler Stays Bullish
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo reached a settlement with activist Elliott Management and is executing an overhaul (cost cuts, ~20% portfolio pruning, supply-chain changes, leadership moves). Activist-driven operational changes often boost investor expectations for margin improvement and shareholder returns. Elliott-Driven Overhaul
• Positive Sentiment: Product expansion: PepsiCo launched “Good Warrior” protein-packed meat sticks, entering a fast-growing snacking category that could expand margins and diversify growth beyond beverages. Good Warrior Launch
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo set the date to release Q1 2026 results on April 16 — a catalyst date for fresh guidance and performance details that could move the stock. Q1 Results Date
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparative analyst/features pieces (e.g., Coca‑Cola vs. PepsiCo) highlight PepsiCo’s faster dividend growth and larger revenue base but note efficiency advantages for Coke — useful framing but not an immediate price driver. Coca‑Cola vs PepsiCo Analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Legislative note: A proposed bill to extend full SNAP to Puerto Rico (S.3958) could modestly affect beverage/snack demand there over long timeframes — worth monitoring but not immediate. Puerto Rico SNAP Bill
• Negative Sentiment: PepsiCo lost the NBA soft‑drink sponsorship to Coca‑Cola’s Sprite (Starry replaced), a visible branding setback in a key marketing channel that could dent promotional reach and investor sentiment. Sprite NBA Sponsorship
• Negative Sentiment: Shareholder litigation risk: Lowey Dannenberg launched an investigation into potential fiduciary breaches by PepsiCo’s board related to past pricing/antitrust claims — legal and governance risks can weigh on valuation until resolved. Shareholder Investigation

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.