Professional Advisory Services Inc. Boosts Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Professional Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 194,216 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,285 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo makes up 3.6% of Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $27,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in PepsiCo in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 107.1% in the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 667.7% during the 3rd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo is expanding AI across its China operations (farming, manufacturing, distribution), a move investors view as a potential efficiency and margin tailwind; the announcement helped lift the stock in premarket trading. PepsiCo (PEP) Stock Gains 1.8% on China AI Expansion Announcement
• Positive Sentiment: The company is using commodity hedges to mitigate geopolitical and input-cost volatility, which should help protect margins if costs spike. PepsiCo mitigates geopolitical pressures by hedging commodities
• Positive Sentiment: New product innovation (e.g., the protein Doritos rollout) supports growth/brand momentum in snacking, a strategic positive for long-term category share. How PepsiCo designed its new protein Doritos to look and taste like the real thing
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple short-interest data entries show a reported jump but list “0 shares” and NaN changes — appears to be erroneous or a data-feed issue, so this is unlikely to meaningfully affect the stock today.
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo Foundation / community engagement programs (SUNY Westchester) are positive PR but are unlikely to move the stock materially near term. SUNY Westchester Community College and the PepsiCo Foundation Highlight Student Pathways to Career Success
• Negative Sentiment: Sector pressure: Coca‑Cola commentary about 2026 margin pressure and pricing normalization raises concerns that beverage peers, including PepsiCo, may face similar headwinds on pricing and volume recovery. Coca-Cola Faces Margin Pressure: Can Pricing Power Hold?
• Negative Sentiment: Consumer backlash risk: reports that PepsiCo Foods may discontinue >20 snack SKUs have sparked negative online reaction; if true, product cuts or supply moves could create short-term brand/headline risk. Major food company might discontinue over 20 snacks: ‘Gonna start a war’

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on PEP shares. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on PepsiCo from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. HSBC increased their target price on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $154.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Evercore raised their price objective on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.00.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP opened at $150.59 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.85. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.48. The firm has a market cap of $205.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $158.55 and its 200-day moving average is $149.96.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $29.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.96 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 57.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.83%.

PepsiCo announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.