Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $24.75 Million Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 159,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,753,000. PepsiCo comprises about 0.4% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in PepsiCo by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 554,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,916,000 after purchasing an additional 19,218 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 415,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,600,000 after buying an additional 42,335 shares in the last quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 622.3% during the fourth quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. now owns 35,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,110,000 after buying an additional 30,674 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp raised its position in PepsiCo by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 104,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,030,000 after buying an additional 54,405 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,143,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $451,218,000 after acquiring an additional 77,051 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo remains a long-term income favorite, with a 54-year streak of dividend increases that reinforces its defensive profile for investors. The upcoming earnings report will be watched to see whether that streak can continue. Buy This Dividend King with a 54-Year Streak Before July 9
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup kept a buy rating on PepsiCo while lowering its target price to $170 from $182, implying meaningful upside from current levels despite the reduction. Citigroup price target update
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America cut its price target to $164 from $173 and maintained a neutral stance, citing slower PFNA recovery. That suggests the stock still has upside potential, but near-term recovery may be slower than hoped. Bank of America target cut and neutral rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street is looking for PepsiCo’s Q2 2026 earnings to show only modest EPS growth, so the upcoming report could be a key catalyst if results or guidance surprise in either direction. PepsiCo’s Q2 2026 Earnings: What to Expect
• Neutral Sentiment: News that Hershey hired a former PepsiCo executive for a U.S. president role is more of an executive-mobility story than a direct operating issue for PepsiCo, so it likely has limited immediate stock impact. Hershey taps PepsiCo executive for US president role
• Negative Sentiment: PepsiCo’s stock has been weakening recently, and multiple articles point to investor caution ahead of earnings and pressure from valuation concerns, which helps explain the downside in the shares. PepsiCo stock weighing DCF upside against recent share price weakness

PepsiCo Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $139.52 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $190.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.09. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on PepsiCo from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $162.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $143.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Eight research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $166.85.

PepsiCo Company 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.