PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP Position Boosted by Journey Strategic Wealth LLC

Journey Strategic Wealth LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 219,594 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,466 shares during the period. PepsiCo accounts for about 0.9% of Journey Strategic Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $30,840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. PKS Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 6.9% in the third quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Ted Buchan & Co increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ted Buchan & Co now owns 8,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361 shares during the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 9,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. River Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2.6% in the third quarter. River Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hendershot Investments Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.7% in the third quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. now owns 122,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,134,000 after purchasing an additional 3,180 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo is launching its Poppi soda brand in the UK — its first rollout outside the U.S. — which broadens international growth avenues for a fast‑growing beverage SKU and leverages local bottler Carlsberg Britvic for production and distribution. poppi lands in the UK
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend narrative remains supportive: coverage pieces continue to highlight PepsiCo’s long dividend track record and yield profile, attracting income‑focused investors and providing a defensive valuation underpin. Dividend King coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Management/marketing moves and digital push — PepsiCo elevated Mira Medhat to a regional beverages marketing role and is leaning into social media influencers (TikTok) to drive brand buzz, indicating active investment in demand creation for beverage SKUs. Marketing director promotion
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention metrics: tools and sites (Zacks/other screens) show elevated interest in PEP — higher searches can increase short‑term liquidity and volatility but are not directional on fundamentals. Zacks investor interest
• Neutral Sentiment: Nearby competitor/asset news — Celsius Holdings reported strong results after acquiring Rockstar (previously part of PepsiCo). Celsius strength is an industry datapoint but doesn’t directly change PepsiCo’s core beverage economics. Celsius earnings and Rockstar note
• Negative Sentiment: PepsiCo will close a Frito‑Lay warehouse in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, laying off ~248 workers — a cost/supply‑chain action that reduces capacity and creates short‑term disruption and local PR/ESG scrutiny. Frito‑Lay warehouse closure
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest rose sharply in February (≈25% increase month‑over‑month) — a higher short base can amplify downside risk and volatility if negative news or earnings miss occurs. (Data reported in market summaries.)
• Negative Sentiment: Proxy/ESG issue: a shareholder action over animal welfare was halted after PepsiCo relented on a demand — the resolution removes litigation uncertainty but signals concession on an ESG matter, which may concern some investors. Animal welfare proxy suit halted

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PEP shares. Citigroup increased their price target 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. TD Cowen increased their target price on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. HSBC boosted their price target on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 27th. Finally, Evercore boosted their target price on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $168.00.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $169.74 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $153.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $148.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $231.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.39. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $171.48.

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

PepsiCo announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 plans are usually 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 paid a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 94.83%.

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.