Merit Financial Group LLC Has $19.61 Million Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 136,635 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,840 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $19,610,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in PepsiCo by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,499,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,356,155,000 after buying an additional 1,079,970 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,617,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,912,476,000 after acquiring an additional 958,701 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,902,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,250,290,000 after acquiring an additional 118,286 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,207,230,000 after acquiring an additional 1,995,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,112,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,139,255,000 after acquiring an additional 155,636 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat on both revenue and EPS — PepsiCo reported $19.44B in revenue (up 8.5% YoY) and $1.61 non-GAAP EPS, topping Street estimates and signaling broad-based demand strength. PEP Q1 Deep Dive
• Positive Sentiment: Price cuts are working — Promotional price cuts (up to ~15% on value snack SKUs) drove the first North America food volume growth in over two years and helped win back shoppers, supporting near-term top-line momentum. Food companies are finally cutting prices
• Positive Sentiment: Brand and product initiatives gaining traction — PepsiCo highlighted innovations (Gatorade repositioning, new snack SKUs, energy/prebiotic soda strength) that management says are expanding occasions and helping sales recover. PepsiCo Q1 2026 Earnings Call Highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and press reaction is supportive — Coverage emphasizes the food-segment turnaround and productivity gains; some outlets call PepsiCo a discounted Dividend King with long-term appeal after the sell-off. 3 Magnificent Dividend Stocks the Sell-Off Has Put on Sale
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector sentiment also lifted by smaller peers — Positive earnings and outlooks from beverage peers boosted beverage-sector sentiment, indirectly supporting PEP shares. Zevia (ZVIA) Stock Trades Up
• Negative Sentiment: Guidance and margin read — PepsiCo reaffirmed FY-2026 EPS guidance but its revenue range sits modestly below some consensus estimates, and inflation/competitive dynamics could pressure margins as price restatements continue. (Company guidance and press release summarized in earnings coverage.) PepsiCo tops quarterly revenue estimates

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on PEP shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on PepsiCo from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Evercore upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Argus upgraded shares of PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $163.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $168.16.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $158.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.85. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.48. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $151.46. The company has a market capitalization of $216.50 billion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.40.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 57.92%. The firm had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.48 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. PepsiCo has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.465-8.628 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 was Friday, March 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.83%.

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.