Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC Boosts Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Key Points

• Pinnacle Wealth boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 54.7% in Q4 to 37,386 shares (worth $5.37M), joining other institutions that added positions as institutional investors now own about 73.07% of the stock.
• PepsiCo beat quarterly EPS and revenue (EPS $1.61 vs. $1.55 est.; revenue $19.44B vs. $18.89B), issued FY2026 EPS guidance of $8.465–8.628, authorized a $10B share buyback and pays a quarterly dividend (annualized $5.69, ~3.6% yield).
• The company is advancing sustainability initiatives (a 10‑year virtual PPA in Europe and electric delivery truck rollouts) but faces near‑term reputational and legal risks after pulling ProNutro in South Africa and being named in a consumer lawsuit over ultra‑processed foods.

Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 54.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,386 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,214 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $5,366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 120.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,916,417 shares of the company's stock worth $830,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,235,726 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 30.0% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company's stock worth $1,207,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995,362 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company's stock worth $19,875,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612,652 shares during the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 151.7% during the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 2,597,986 shares of the company's stock worth $364,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,565,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 406.0% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,789,959 shares of the company's stock worth $256,895,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436,216 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 signed a 10‑year virtual power purchase agreement with Statkraft to cut ~32,000 metric tons of CO2 annually across Europe — supports sustainability targets and may lower long‑term energy costs. PepsiCo inks 10-year renewable energy deal to cut emissions across Europe
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised multiple near‑ and medium‑term EPS estimates (including FY2027 and FY2028), signaling improved analyst expectations for profitability. PepsiCo (PEP) analyst note (MarketBeat summary)
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo is expanding electrification of distribution with a 50 electric delivery truck rollout in Fresno — incremental cost and emissions benefits and supports supply‑chain decarbonization narrative. Fresno PepsiCo rolls out 50 electric delivery trucks, aims to reduce emissions
• Positive Sentiment: Company announced a 2026 growth plan focused on cost cuts and product innovation — potential margin improvement and revenue growth tailwinds if execution holds. PepsiCo sets 2026 growth plan with cost cuts, innovation push
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and media pieces comparing Coca‑Cola vs. PepsiCo provide context for relative valuation and may drive short‑term trading but contain no new company‑specific catalysts. Coca-Cola vs. PepsiCo: Which Stock Is the Better Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo plans to end its bottling/distribution partnership with Royal Unibrew in parts of Northern Europe by 2028 — strategic operational change that will require new local arrangements (potential short‑term costs, long‑term control). PepsiCo Bottling Shift In Northern Europe And What It Means For Valuation
• Negative Sentiment: PepsiCo apologised to South African consumers and pulled its ProNutro formula from shelves after a backlash — immediate reputational damage, potential regulatory scrutiny and lost sales in the market; this appears to be the most direct near‑term negative catalyst. PepsiCo apologises to South Africans and pulls ProNutro from shelves over formula backlash
• Negative Sentiment: PepsiCo is named in a consumer lawsuit alleging ultraprocessed foods can be addictive — legal risk and reputational headlines that could pressure longer‑term consumer perception and marketing costs. Food giants hit with consumer lawsuit calling ultraprocessed ingredients addictive
• Negative Sentiment: Erste Group trimmed FY2026/27 EPS estimates slightly — a small downward analyst revision that marginally reduces near‑term analyst sentiment. Erste Group Bank analyst note (MarketBeat summary)

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $163.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Argus upgraded PepsiCo to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $170.26.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $157.39 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $157.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $152.43. The stock has a market cap of $215.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.38.

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

PepsiCo declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share 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 buy up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is currently 89.32%.

PepsiCo Company 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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