Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 12,356 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,716,571 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,356 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of PepsiCo worth $232,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,875,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612,652 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,499,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,356,155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079,970 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 14,857.8% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 49,252,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,068,777,000 after purchasing an additional 48,923,629 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,617,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,814,835,000 after purchasing an additional 360,936 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 28,090,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,031,646,000 after buying an additional 295,955 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PepsiCo news, EVP David Flavell sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.54, for a total value of $404,666.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 74,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,441,080.50. The trade was a 3.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $142.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The stock has a market cap of $193.92 billion, a PE ratio of 18.62, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s fifty day moving average is $140.03 and its 200 day moving average is $150.34. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $133.73 and a 52 week high of $171.48.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 9th. The company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $24.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.95 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 54.63% and a net margin of 10.78%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. PepsiCo has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.550-8.710 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $155.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, July 10th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $138.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Piper Sandler set a $176.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $170.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group set a $159.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.90.

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.