Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Stock Price

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) had its price target boosted by equities researchers at Barclays from $148.00 to $160.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s target price points to a potential downside of 3.16% from the company’s current price.

PEP has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $165.00 price target on PepsiCo in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $151.00 to $164.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas Exane raised PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $179.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Loop Capital set a $164.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Wednesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.22.

PepsiCo Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $165.22 on Wednesday. PepsiCo has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $163.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $146.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $145.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.41, a PEG ratio of 5.10 and a beta of 0.40.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 57.58%. The business had revenue of $29.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. PepsiCo has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.550-8.710 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,330,594,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 14,420.2% during the second 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 during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 120.7% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,916,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $830,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,235,726 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew 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 valued at $3,833,406,000 after buying an additional 2,556,163 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 19.5% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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: Q4 results beat expectations and management reiterated FY26 guidance — EPS $2.26 vs. $2.24 est; revenue beat and organic growth acceleration. The print shows improving beverage trends that helped the quarter. CNBC: PepsiCo earnings beat
• Positive Sentiment: Board authorized a $10 billion share repurchase (≈4.7% of shares) and the company raised its dividend — a clear capital-return signal that typically supports the stock. RTT News: $10B buyback
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo is cutting suggested retail prices on marquee snack SKUs (Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos) by as much as ~15% to drive affordability and volume, rolling out ahead of the Super Bowl. This can boost demand but may compress snack margins until volumes recover. Business Insider: Price cuts on snacks
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst positioning is mixed: TD Cowen kept a Hold with a $162 target, citing improving fundamentals but execution and valuation risks — indicating investor caution despite the operational progress. TipRanks: TD Cowen Hold
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors/analysts warn the rally is multiple expansion rather than a fundamental recovery — volumes remain weak, margins are under pressure, and planned price cuts trade margin certainty for a hoped-for volume rebound. At current forward multiples, upside depends on execution rather than valuation safety. Seeking Alpha: Rally risky / downgrade

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.