Arizona State Retirement System Decreases Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Key Points

• Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its PepsiCo stake by 4.0% in Q4 to 384,202 shares (about $55.14 million), while overall institutional ownership of PEP remains roughly 73.07%.
• PepsiCo beat Q earnings and revenue (EPS $1.61 vs. $1.55 est.; revenue $19.44B vs. $18.89B), issued FY2026 guidance of $8.465–$8.628 EPS, and approved a $10 billion share buyback alongside an annualized dividend of $5.69 (3.7% yield).
• Management announced a strategic AI partnership with Google Cloud to boost supply‑chain and operational efficiency—viewed as a positive catalyst—though regional execution and rising costs (notably in India) pose potential margin risks.

Arizona State Retirement System lowered its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 384,202 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,201 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $55,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,952 shares of the company's stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC now owns 7,234 shares of the company's stock worth $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 1,863 shares in the last quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 32,852 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,715,000 after purchasing an additional 6,686 shares during the period. Finally, Spectrum Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $621,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strategic AI partnership with Google Cloud announced to accelerate AI across PepsiCo’s supply chain and operations—investors view this as a productivity and margin catalyst that supports faster insight-to-action at scale. PepsiCo Deepens AI Capabilities with Google Cloud
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage by Benzinga highlighted the Google Cloud deal as a near-term reason for share gains, linking the partnership directly to investors’ improved view on PepsiCo’s supply-chain and AI-driven efficiency plans. PepsiCo Gains As Google Cloud Partnership Boosts AI, Supply Chain Plans
• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer mentioned an upcoming Pepsi product as "potentially hot," bringing retail attention and short‑term sentiment lift; media mentions from high-profile commentators can amplify buying interest. Jim Cramer Reveals Potentially Hot Upcoming Pepsi (PEP) Product
• Positive Sentiment: Gatorade launched a global "Is It In You?" football campaign ahead of major competitions—an aggressive marketing push for a core brand that can support volume and international momentum. GATORADE ASSERTS THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS TO GREATNESS IN NEW 'IS IT IN YOU?' GLOBAL FOOTBALL CAMPAIGN
• Positive Sentiment: Quaker expanded its portfolio with a new protein rice crisps product—aligns with consumer trends for higher-protein, better-for-you snacks and supports PepsiCo’s foods portfolio evolution. QUAKER® EXPANDS PORTFOLIO WITH NEW PROTEIN RICE CRISPS OFFERING GOOD SOURCE OF PROTEIN (6G PROTEIN) AND 9G WHOLE GRAINS PER SERVING
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo announced a virtual annual shareholder meeting webcast for May 6—standard disclosure and a governance touchpoint but unlikely to move fundamentals. PepsiCo Announces Webcast of Annual Meeting of Shareholders
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo selected Carlsberg as its bottling/distribution partner in Northern Europe (effective 2029); this restructures regional execution and may improve scale, but benefits are multi-year and gradual. PepsiCo Hands Northern Europe Bottling To Carlsberg What It Means For Investors
• Neutral Sentiment: A comparative piece on Coca‑Cola vs. PepsiCo reviews decade-long performance; useful context for investors but not an immediate catalyst for PEP stock movement. Got 5,000? Coca-Cola vs. PepsiCo – One Has Quietly Outperformed for a Decade
• Negative Sentiment: Reporting on PepsiCo India highlights a farm-to-shelf overhaul amid rising costs and changing consumer demand—signals regional cost pressure and execution risk that could weigh on margins if not offset by pricing or efficiency. Inside PepsiCo India's farm-to-shelf overhaul amid rising costs, shifting consumer demand

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of PepsiCo to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on PepsiCo from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $170.26.

PepsiCo Price Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $155.70 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $158.82 and a 200 day moving average of $151.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.40.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.48 EPS. PepsiCo has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.465-8.628 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.32%.

PepsiCo declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

PepsiCo Profile

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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