Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. Increases Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. increased its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 16.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 23,498 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,298 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $3,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 2nd quarter worth $2,330,594,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in PepsiCo by 14,420.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,031,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,833,406,000 after purchasing an additional 2,556,163 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 19.5% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,577,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,056,797,000 after buying an additional 2,541,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 112.6% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,040,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $533,452,000 after buying an additional 2,139,847 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Poppi — PepsiCo’s soda brand Poppi launched in the UK, its first expansion outside the U.S., via production and distribution with bottling partner Carlsberg Britvic; that expands international growth avenues for a branded, better-for-you beverage which can help top-line and brand momentum. poppi lands in the UK
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend appeal — multiple dividend-focused outlets include PepsiCo on lists of yield/ dividend-growth stocks, reinforcing its status as a steady income play and potentially drawing buying from income-oriented investors. Got $10,000? Put It in These Dividend Stocks Now 2 Consumer Dividend Stocks to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Marketing push — PepsiCo is using TikTok creators to boost social engagement for its brands, a low-cost tactic that can lift short-term awareness and support volume for targeted SKUs. PepsiCo turns to TikTok stars
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention and comparisons — Zacks and other outlets note elevated investor search/coverage of PEP and publish comparisons vs. Coca‑Cola on valuation and business mix; these pieces raise debate but don’t immediately change fundamentals. Investors Heavily Search PepsiCo PepsiCo vs. Coca‑Cola
• Neutral Sentiment: Digital/tech profile — a new enterprise technology report highlights PepsiCo’s digital initiatives and e‑commerce opportunities; useful for long-term strategy but not an immediate earnings driver. PepsiCo Enterprise Technology Analysis Report 2025
• Negative Sentiment: Rising short interest — short interest increased ~25.5% in February to roughly 29.7M shares (~2.2% of float), signaling growing bearish bets that can pressure the stock and amplify downside on weak days (short-interest ratio ~2.6 days). (Internal trading data)
• Negative Sentiment: Proxy suit and animal‑welfare dispute — a Bloomberg Law report says a proxy suit was halted after PepsiCo relented on an animal-welfare-related demand; halting the suit reduces legal uncertainty but the fact the company conceded could worry governance-focused investors. PepsiCo animal welfare proxy suit halted

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $167.58 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $152.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $148.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.02 billion, a PE ratio of 27.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.40. 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 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $171.48.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. The business 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%.The company’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders 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 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Citigroup increased their target price on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, HSBC upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $152.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $168.00.

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.