Christine Messmer PC Acquires Shares of 6,754 PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Key Points

• Christine Messmer PC acquired a new stake of 6,754 shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter, valued at about $969,000, and institutional investors now own 73.07% of the company.
• PepsiCo beat quarterly expectations with $1.61 EPS and $19.44 billion in revenue, and set FY2026 guidance of 8.465–8.628 EPS (analysts' consensus ~8.63).
• The Board authorized a $10.0 billion share buyback (about 4.7% of outstanding stock) and the company pays a quarterly dividend of $1.4225 (annualized yield ~3.7%).

Christine Messmer PC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $969,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Falcon Wealth Planning grew its stake in PepsiCo by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning now owns 5,409 shares of the company's stock valued at $776,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Management LLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 59.9% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Investment Management LLC now owns 33,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,837,000 after acquiring an additional 12,626 shares during the period. MMA Asset Management LLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. MMA Asset Management LLC now owns 2,947 shares of the company's stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in PepsiCo by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,689,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $242,506,000 after acquiring an additional 57,129 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in PepsiCo by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 163,938 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,528,000 after acquiring an additional 9,203 shares during the period. 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: UBS reiterated a Buy on PEP and highlighted strong earnings momentum, backing a $186 price target — a bullish signal that supports the stock’s medium-term valuation and could limit downside from short-term noise. UBS Highlights Strong Earnings Momentum for PepsiCo (PEP)
• Positive Sentiment: Management’s productivity and cost-savings initiatives are being emphasized as a key buffer against inflationary pressure — this reduces earnings risk and supports margin resilience if input costs rise. Can Productivity Savings Shield PepsiCo From Inflation Pressures?
• Positive Sentiment: Product innovation and portfolio expansion (Tostitos refrigerated dips, Pure Leaf Mental Focus sparkling teas, MUG/Quaker collaborations) broaden growth levers and help drive incremental revenue in higher-margin formats. Investors view new SKUs and cross-brand bundles as supportive for top-line momentum. PepsiCo Balances Human Rights Scrutiny With Health Focused Product Expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Gatorade’s “Body of Science” multi-year research commitment targets women’s hydration needs — a meaningful brand and R&D investment that can deepen category leadership and support future product commercialization. Gatorade Unveils "Body of Science"
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend-focused write-ups continue to include PepsiCo as a reliable dividend compounder, which supports long-term investor demand but has limited immediate impact on intraday moves. 10 Years, Zero Regrets: The Dividend Stocks I Keep Buying
• Negative Sentiment: A shareholder proposal seeks more detailed reporting on human-rights policy effectiveness and due diligence; governance scrutiny ahead of the annual meeting can create uncertainty and headline risk that depresses sentiment. PepsiCo Balances Human Rights Scrutiny With Health Focused Product Expansion
• Negative Sentiment: One roundup included PEP among “unpopular” names receiving downbeat forecasts, which can prompt tactical selling by momentum or quant funds and add selling pressure even if fundamentals remain intact. 3 Unpopular Stocks We Keep Off Our Radar

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PEP shares. Argus raised PepsiCo to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup lifted their target price on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $163.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report 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 given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $170.26.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $154.59 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $157.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.38. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $171.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The company reported $1.61 EPS 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%.PepsiCo's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. PepsiCo has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.465-8.628 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

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

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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