Kentucky Retirement Systems Acquires 40,580 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Kentucky Retirement Systems boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 47.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 126,616 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,580 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in PepsiCo were worth $19,662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.2% in the fourth 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 lifted its position in PepsiCo by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,499,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,356,155,000 after buying an additional 1,079,970 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 14,857.8% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 49,252,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,068,777,000 after acquiring an additional 48,923,629 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,617,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,814,835,000 after acquiring an additional 360,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in PepsiCo by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 28,090,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,031,646,000 after acquiring an additional 295,955 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Key PepsiCo News

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Global volume growth, international brands and product innovation are supporting PepsiCo’s results as the company looks to offset softer North American demand. Productivity initiatives and brand investments could also help stabilize profitability. PepsiCo Rides Global Volume Growth as North American Demand Slows
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo’s lower valuation and dividend yield above 4% provide potential support for income-focused investors. Its recent quarterly performance also modestly exceeded estimates, with earnings of $2.20 per share and revenue of $24.18 billion. Is PepsiCo Stock Attractive After Q2 Earnings and Margin Pressure
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo appointed Tanvi Swami as marketing director for Pepsi, 7UP and Mirinda. The move may support brand strategy, although no immediate financial impact was provided. PepsiCo appoints Tanvi Swami as Marketing Director
• Neutral Sentiment: An executive sold 2,900 shares worth approximately $405,000, reducing his position by 3.73%. The transaction was disclosed as required in an SEC filing but was relatively small compared with his remaining holdings. SEC insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: Consumer-staples estimates are being pressured as shoppers increasingly resist price increases. Procter & Gamble’s earnings miss and cautious outlook reinforce concerns that PepsiCo may have limited pricing power, particularly in its large North American snack business. Q3 Estimates Increase for Tech and Finance, Fall for Consumer Staples
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts continue to flag margin pressure, elevated debt and weaker estimates. A lawsuit alleging workplace harassment and retaliation also creates potential reputational risk, although the report does not indicate a quantified financial impact. PepsiCo workplace harassment lawsuit report

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PepsiCo news, EVP David Flavell sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.54, for a total transaction of $404,666.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 74,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,441,080.50. This trade represents a 3.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PEP shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, July 6th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $173.00 to $164.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on PepsiCo from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.90.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.4%

PEP opened at $143.50 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $151.08. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $133.73 and a fifty-two week high of $171.48. The company has a market cap of $195.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 9th. The company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $24.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.95 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 54.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. PepsiCo has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.550-8.710 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.59%.

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.