KBC Group NV Acquires 176,588 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 40.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 615,787 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 176,588 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $95,626,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 14,857.8% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 49,252,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,068,777,000 after buying an additional 48,923,629 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth $3,018,813,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 16,146.5% in the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,586,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $556,936,000 after acquiring an additional 3,564,348 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 120.7% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,916,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $830,902,000 after acquiring an additional 3,235,726 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,207,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995,362 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo declared a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share, a 4% increase from a year ago, which reinforces its appeal as a steady income stock. PepsiCo Declares Quarterly Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo India reported robust first-half growth and said it will set up a new food manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu, signaling continued international expansion. PepsiCo India sees robust growth in H1
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo’s CEO said the company remains cautiously optimistic about the second half, citing resilient demand in the face of weather-related uncertainty. PepsiCo cautiously optimistic on H2 amid robust demand
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo is drawing more investor attention, but the Zacks items are mostly watchlist-style coverage rather than new fundamental news. PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP) is Attracting Investor Attention
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo is pushing sustainable sourcing further, saying 70% of ingredients now come from sustainable sources and targeting 90% by 2030, which supports long-term ESG goals but is unlikely to move the stock near term. PepsiCo (PEP) Pushes Sustainable Sourcing
• Negative Sentiment: Erste Group Bank trimmed PepsiCo’s FY2026 and FY2027 earnings estimates, adding to concern that profit growth may be slower than previously expected. PepsiCo estimate cuts
• Negative Sentiment: Broader commentary that U.S. grocery unit sales are falling suggests a tougher demand backdrop for PepsiCo and other packaged-food companies. U.S. grocery unit sales falling
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage noting that PepsiCo stock is near a one-year low highlights ongoing investor concern about the company’s growth and margin outlook. Why PepsiCo’s stock is at a 1-year low

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on PEP shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Piper Sandler set a $176.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $195.00 to $183.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.70.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ PEP opened at $137.12 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $187.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $134.65 and a twelve month high of $171.48. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $151.26.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 9th. The company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 54.63% and a net margin of 10.78%.The firm had revenue of $24.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. PepsiCo has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.550-8.710 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.58 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.