Fluent Financial LLC Buys New Shares in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Fluent Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 44,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,337,000. PepsiCo makes up about 2.4% of Fluent Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cypress Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $373,000. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. now owns 69,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,975,000 after acquiring an additional 5,430 shares in the last quarter. Amiral Gestion purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,841,000. Finally, Chemung Canal Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 44,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,426,000 after purchasing an additional 8,108 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Market note showing shares climbing on the session — reflects investor appetite today amid other supportive news. PepsiCo (PEP) Increases Despite Market Slip: Here’s What You Need to Know
• Positive Sentiment: Management highlights heavy local sourcing (~95% in APAC) plus AI and hedging to control input-cost and geopolitical risks — this should support margins and supply resilience. PepsiCo Leans on Local Sourcing and AI to Navigate Cost Pressures
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage on the same theme: local sourcing and AI-driven cost management, reinforcing the narrative that PepsiCo is proactively protecting margins. PepsiCo Leans on Local Sourcing and AI to Navigate Cost Pressures
• Positive Sentiment: Product strategy shift into meat snacks to meet demand for cleaner ingredients — diversification into premium/snacking categories can boost revenue mix and margins if execution scales. PepsiCo pivots into meat snacks, as consumers now want ‘cleaner’ ingredients
• Positive Sentiment: New global marketing platform “Pepsi Football Nation” expands brand engagement and sponsorship reach — a potential tailwind for beverage/packaged-snack demand around sports. Pepsi Football Nation: a new global platform celebrates football culture
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo sees opportunity from China’s new Five-Year Plan — management tone suggests growth focus in a key market, which investors may view as constructive for international revenue. PepsiCo chief sees potential of China’s new Five-Year Plan
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst consensus remains an average “Hold” — suggests no near-term re-rating from sell-side, so short-term moves may be driven more by company updates than upgrades. PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings preview ahead of results — analysts will be watching organic sales, margin trends and guidance; the preview keeps focus on upcoming catalysts rather than changing fundamentals today. PepsiCo Earnings Preview: What to Expect
• Negative Sentiment: Article flags PepsiCo among profitable companies with “questionable fundamentals” — a reminder some investors see valuation or structural concerns despite profitability; could pressure sentiment if echoed by analysts. 3 Profitable Stocks with Questionable Fundamentals

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane set a $191.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $154.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on PepsiCo from $164.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.00.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ PEP opened at $153.04 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $158.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $150.10. The company has a market capitalization of $209.15 billion, a PE ratio of 25.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.39. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $171.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

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

PepsiCo announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.