PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Price Target Cut to $140.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) had its price objective trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Bank of America cut their price target on PepsiCo from $173.00 to $164.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. UBS Group set a $159.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $173.00 to $168.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.70.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ PEP opened at $137.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $187.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.36. PepsiCo has a 52-week low of $133.75 and a 52-week high of $171.48. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $145.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $151.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 9th. The company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 54.63% and a net margin of 10.78%.The firm had revenue of $24.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. PepsiCo has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.550-8.710 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that PepsiCo will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 92.94%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 14,857.8% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 49,252,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,068,777,000 after acquiring an additional 48,923,629 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth about $3,018,813,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in PepsiCo by 16,146.5% in the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,586,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $556,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,564,348 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in PepsiCo by 952.6% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,715,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $503,121,000 after purchasing an additional 3,362,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Key PepsiCo News

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo’s Q2 revenue topped Wall Street estimates, supported by stronger international growth and improved volumes in some markets.
• Positive Sentiment: The company reaffirmed its full-year guidance, which can help reassure investors that the turnaround plan is still on track.
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo’s long dividend track record remains a draw for income investors, with the company continuing its streak of annual increases.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several firms, including RBC, TD Cowen, Wells Fargo, Citi, and others, lowered price targets after the report, but most still kept neutral or hold-type ratings. Citi Analyst Downgrades PepsiCo Stock (PEP) Despite Q2 Beat, Slashes Target by 15%
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain split between PepsiCo’s dividend/stability appeal and concerns about valuation, margin pressure, and a slow U.S. recovery. PepsiCo’s $200 Billion Stability Play Is Attracting Dividend Investors
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are worried that soft North American snack and beverage demand, plus higher commodity and fuel costs, could keep earnings momentum muted.
• Negative Sentiment: Media coverage compared PepsiCo unfavorably with Coca-Cola, highlighting market-share pressure and a more difficult turnaround narrative for PEP shares.

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.