Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Acquires 5,351 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 13.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 44,460 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,351 shares during the quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $6,244,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in PepsiCo by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 136,936,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,081,034,000 after acquiring an additional 1,761,785 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 58,419,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,713,757,000 after purchasing an additional 920,045 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in PepsiCo by 0.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,675,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,301,240,000 after purchasing an additional 86,695 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 9.7% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,031,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,833,406,000 after purchasing an additional 2,556,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the second quarter valued at about $2,330,594,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade and guidance lift: One Seeking Alpha note upgraded PEP to a Buy after Q4 results (5.6% revenue growth) and management’s 2026 guide calling for 2–4% organic revenue and 4–6% EPS growth — a sign the tariff and margin headwinds are receding and should support upside. PepsiCo: Headwinds Are Finally Retreating (Rating Upgrade)
• Positive Sentiment: Valuation argument for upside: Another Seeking Alpha piece reiterates a Buy, noting PEP trades under ~20x forward earnings and derives a ~$175 price target (~10% above recent levels) — supporting further gains if execution continues. PepsiCo: Shares Pop In Early 2026, Valuation Is Still Appealing
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest has meaningfully declined, removing some downside pressure — short interest fell ~29.7% in February to ~20.8M shares (≈1.5% of float; ~3.1 days to cover), which reduces the risk of a short‑squeeze driven volatility spike to the downside.
• Neutral Sentiment: Options‑income idea: A Seeking Alpha piece pitches selling options on PEP for >10% yield as a tactical income trade — useful for yield‑seeking investors but it reflects trading strategies rather than fundamentals. Sell Options On PepsiCo For A 10%+ Yield
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst fair‑value tweaks: Coverage notes the firm’s fair value estimate nudged to ~$170.8 and that analyst views are mixed — incremental changes, not a consensus rerating. How PepsiCo (PEP) Narrative Is Evolving Around 2026 Turnaround Goals And Fair Value
• Neutral Sentiment: Brand/marketing item: PepsiCo opened its first Lay’s‑branded restaurant in Spain — a small‑scale brand experiment that supports innovation but is unlikely to move near‑term revenue materially. PepsiCo opens first Lay’s-branded restaurant in Spain
• Negative Sentiment: Peer outperformance: Coca‑Cola (KO) has rallied sharply (~12.5% month) on durable pricing power and investor preference for beverage exposure, which can divert rotational flows away from PEP and pressure relative performance. Coca-Cola Stock Rises 12.5% in a Month: Buy the Rally or Wait?

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ PEP opened at $160.15 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $156.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $149.53. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $171.48. The company has a market capitalization of $218.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $29.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.96 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 57.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 94.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on PepsiCo from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane set a $191.00 target price on PepsiCo in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $168.50.

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.