Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 96,123 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group reduced its PepsiCo stake by 96,123 shares (2.6%) in Q4 and now owns 3,630,035 shares—about 0.27% of the company—valued at $520,983,000.
• PepsiCo declared a quarterly dividend of $1.4225 per share (annualized $5.69, yield 3.6%) and its Board authorized a $10 billion share buyback program (roughly 4.7% of shares).
• The company slightly beat Q4 EPS expectations ($2.26 vs. $2.24) with revenue of $29.34B (+5.6% YoY), while analysts' consensus remains a "Hold" with a $168.47 target.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,630,035 shares of the company's stock after selling 96,123 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of PepsiCo worth $520,983,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PEP. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,138 shares of the company's stock worth $1,024,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in PepsiCo by 306.7% during the 4th quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 968 shares of the company's stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 730 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. boosted its position in PepsiCo by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 12,436 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,785,000 after buying an additional 1,773 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in PepsiCo by 480.1% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 633,978 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,989,000 after buying an additional 524,684 shares during the period. Finally, Kellett Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in PepsiCo by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Kellett Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of PepsiCo from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $176.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $163.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $168.47.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $157.06 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $171.48. The stock has a market cap of $214.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $160.58 and a 200 day moving average of $151.10. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 57.92%. The company had revenue of $29.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $28.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. PepsiCo's revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were given 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 (DPR) is 94.83%.

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

More PepsiCo News

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage highlighting likely earnings growth and a potential beat supports expectations for revenue/earnings resilience ahead of the print. PepsiCo (PEP) Earnings Expected to Grow: Should You Buy?
• Positive Sentiment: Marketing and product activity (new campaign for Cheetos with high‑profile partners) can help brand momentum and volume recovery in snacks/beverages. Campaign Trail: Cheetos soundtracks a heist with Megan Thee Stallion, Nickelback
• Positive Sentiment: New product rollout (Dirty Mountain Dew national push) and related beverage innovations may offset some snack weakness if consumer uptake is strong. PepsiCo Balances Dirty Mountain Dew Launch With Snack Pricing And ESG Risks
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS and other brokers expect Q1 results to be largely in‑line, noting modest organic revenue progress but continued focus on North America trends; that tempers both upside and downside near term. PepsiCo expected to report in-line Q1 results amid North America recovery
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest report shows no meaningful short position (data anomaly/zeroes), so short covering is unlikely to be a driver. (No actionable signal.)
• Negative Sentiment: RBC trimmed its price target from $165 to $163 and kept a "sector perform" rating — a modestly bearish signal that may weigh on sentiment relative to peers. RBC trims price target on PepsiCo to $163 from $165, keeps sector perform rating
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports that prior snack price hikes led to lost sales and shelf‑space losses have forced PepsiCo to cut snack prices, which could boost volumes but hurt near‑term margins and investor sentiment. PepsiCo Balances Dirty Mountain Dew Launch With Snack Pricing And ESG Risks
• Negative Sentiment: Some outlets and an analyst note flagged a pessimistic medium‑term view on PEP’s share performance, adding to near‑term caution ahead of results. UBS Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for PepsiCo NASDAQ: PEP Stock Price

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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