PepsiCo Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:PEP)

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 69,176 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 112% compared to the typical daily volume of 32,702 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,330,594,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 14,420.2% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,890,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $513,726,000 after purchasing an additional 3,863,893 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $460,110,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,235,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in PepsiCo by 9.7% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,031,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,833,406,000 after acquiring an additional 2,556,163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $138.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $190.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.42, a PEG ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. PepsiCo has a 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $160.15. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $145.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.10.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $23.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.91 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.58% and a net margin of 7.82%.The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that PepsiCo will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 108.17%.

Key Headlines Impacting PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo announced an industry-first industrial AI and digital-twin collaboration with Siemens and NVIDIA to scale AI-driven operations and predictive maintenance — a potential multi-year productivity and cost-savings catalyst that could improve margins and capex efficiency. PepsiCo Announces Industry-First AI and Digital Twin Collaboration with Siemens and NVIDIA
• Positive Sentiment: PBNA (beverages) segment showing organic growth driven by Pepsi Zero Sugar, Mountain Dew strength and expanding functional/energy and protein offerings — supports top-line resilience in a tough consumer backdrop. Are Functional Waters and Energy Drinks Reviving PepsiCo’s PBNA Unit?
• Positive Sentiment: New and limited-time beverage SKUs are being rolled out (positive for shelf buzz and short-term sell-through), which helps sustain beverage momentum and marketing-driven volumes. PepsiCo Has a Brand-New Soda Headed to Shelves—and Fans Say ‘It’s My New Favorite Flavor’
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually large call-option activity (buying of ~69k calls) signals bullish speculative interest or hedging ahead of catalysts — a short-term vote of confidence from some traders.
• Positive Sentiment: Featured as a top dividend/ income pick in recent lists — reinforces appeal to income-focused investors and can support downside during market volatility. Don’t Push for Growth in 2026, Push for Yield: The Case for 3 Top Dividend Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are focused on PepsiCo’s upcoming Q4 results and guidance; analysts expect a stronger bottom line (some forecasts call for double-digit EPS improvement), so the report is a near-term catalyst that could swing the stock. What You Need To Know Ahead of PepsiCo’s Earnings Release
• Negative Sentiment: Sector rotation: investors have been moving money into financials, weighing on consumer staples including PepsiCo and contributing to near-term selling pressure. Stock Of The Day: Is This The Bottom For Pepsi?
• Negative Sentiment: Recent session weakness and a modest slide in the stock while the broader market rose has created short-term momentum to the downside; traders may remain cautious until earnings and more clarity on margin benefits from AI investments. PepsiCo (PEP) Stock Slides as Market Rises: Facts to Know Before You Trade

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $164.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Bank of America raised their price target on PepsiCo from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $172.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on PepsiCo from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on PepsiCo from $150.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $158.75.

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.