Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Reduces Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 81.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 353,018 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,515,151 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $54,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in PepsiCo by 14,857.8% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 49,252,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,068,777,000 after purchasing an additional 48,923,629 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,018,813,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 120.7% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,916,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $830,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,235,726 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,207,230,000 after buying an additional 1,995,362 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,875,205,000 after buying an additional 1,612,652 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Down 1.9%

PepsiCo stock opened at $139.52 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $190.69 billion, a PE ratio of 21.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.90. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $148.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.09.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.The company had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on PEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $178.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Bank of America decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $173.00 to $164.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.85.

Key Stories Impacting PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo remains a long-term income favorite, with a 54-year streak of dividend increases that reinforces its defensive profile for investors. The upcoming earnings report will be watched to see whether that streak can continue. Buy This Dividend King with a 54-Year Streak Before July 9
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup kept a buy rating on PepsiCo while lowering its target price to $170 from $182, implying meaningful upside from current levels despite the reduction. Citigroup price target update
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America cut its price target to $164 from $173 and maintained a neutral stance, citing slower PFNA recovery. That suggests the stock still has upside potential, but near-term recovery may be slower than hoped. Bank of America target cut and neutral rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street is looking for PepsiCo’s Q2 2026 earnings to show only modest EPS growth, so the upcoming report could be a key catalyst if results or guidance surprise in either direction. PepsiCo’s Q2 2026 Earnings: What to Expect
• Neutral Sentiment: News that Hershey hired a former PepsiCo executive for a U.S. president role is more of an executive-mobility story than a direct operating issue for PepsiCo, so it likely has limited immediate stock impact. Hershey taps PepsiCo executive for US president role
• Negative Sentiment: PepsiCo’s stock has been weakening recently, and multiple articles point to investor caution ahead of earnings and pressure from valuation concerns, which helps explain the downside in the shares. PepsiCo stock weighing DCF upside against recent share price weakness

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.