11,505 Shares in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP Bought by M3 Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• M3 Wealth Management LLC bought 11,505 shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter, worth about $1.65 million, making PEP its 19th-largest position and about 1.3% of its portfolio.
• PepsiCo continues to attract heavy institutional ownership, with firms like Vanguard, AQR, Amundi, and others increasing stakes; overall, hedge funds and institutions own about 73.07% of the stock.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend to $1.48 per share and authorized a $10 billion buyback, but the stock is down 3.2% amid mixed analyst sentiment and concerns about competition, pricing pressure, and slower market performance.

M3 Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 11,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,651,000. PepsiCo accounts for approximately 1.3% of M3 Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 120.7% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,916,417 shares of the company's stock valued at $830,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,235,726 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 30.0% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,207,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995,362 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 151.7% in the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 2,597,986 shares of the company's stock valued at $364,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,565,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 406.0% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,789,959 shares of the company's stock valued at $256,895,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436,216 shares during 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: PepsiCo’s innovation push in functional snacks, better-for-you drinks, and refreshed core brands could help reaccelerate growth in 2026 if execution improves. Can PepsiCo's Innovation Push Reignite its Growth in 2026?
• Positive Sentiment: Industry commentary says PepsiCo has pricing power and brand strength to navigate tariff and cost pressures, which supports the long-term earnings outlook. Zacks Industry Outlook Highlights Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Monster Beverage, Fomento Economico Mexicano and Vita Coco
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo’s CPO comments about hiring agile, curious employees in the AI era point to a shift in talent strategy, but this is unlikely to move the stock much by itself. The use of AI in food NPD is changing
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts have slightly trimmed PepsiCo’s fair value estimate while others raised targets, signaling a mixed but still broadly constructive outlook. How The PepsiCo (PEP) Story Is Shifting As Analysts Rework Targets And Assumptions
• Negative Sentiment: PepsiCo stock underperformed peers, reinforcing concerns that investors are rotating away from the name amid slower sentiment and competitive worries. PepsiCo Inc. stock underperforms Tuesday when compared to competitors
• Negative Sentiment: A new Walmart soda line adds another competitor in a market where younger consumers are increasingly buying functional beverages, which could pressure Pepsi’s share. New Walmart soda line takes on Coca-Cola and PepsiCo
• Negative Sentiment: Planned snack price increases could support margins, but they also highlight ongoing input-cost pressure and may risk demand softness if consumers trade down. Bloomberg Reports PepsiCo Preparing New Snack Price Increases for Late June

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. TD Cowen upped their target price on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $170.11.

PepsiCo Stock Down 3.2%

PEP opened at $145.68 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The firm has a market cap of $199.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.38. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.48. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $153.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.59.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. This is a boost from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.94%.

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.

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