Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Posted by Brian Himes on May 24th, 2026

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP – Free Report) by 7,511.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 355,172 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 350,506 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $50,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in PepsiCo by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,875,205,000 after buying an additional 1,612,652 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,499,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,356,155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079,970 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,617,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,912,476,000 after purchasing an additional 958,701 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 118,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,995,362 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Barclays raised their target price on PepsiCo from $154.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on PepsiCo from $169.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.11.

Get Our Latest Analysis on PepsiCo

PepsiCo Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $150.57 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.48. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The company has a market cap of $205.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.The business had revenue of $19.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 89.32%.

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

Key Headlines Impacting PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo extended and revised its licensing and bottling arrangements with Varun Beverages in India through 2049, while also giving the partner more freedom to pursue non-PepsiCo ventures. The longer-term deal should help protect distribution in a key growth market and reduce partnership uncertainty. Varun Beverages, PepsiCo revise licencing deal
Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo is also being highlighted by market commentary as a strong growth stock and a defensive blue-chip income name, reinforcing investor interest in the company’s earnings stability and dividend profile. Here’s Why PepsiCo (PEP) is a Strong Growth Stock
Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo launched new products and initiatives, including a functional ready-to-drink tea and a greenhouse program in Asia-Pacific, which support its innovation story but are unlikely to move the stock on their own. PepsiCo adds functional RTD tea
Neutral Sentiment: The company is also moving ahead with sustainability and regenerative agriculture efforts, which may help long-term brand positioning but are not immediate earnings catalysts. PepsiCo enters regen ag pact with LDC
Negative Sentiment: Industry coverage continues to flag margin pressure from higher sugar, packaging and freight costs, along with tariff uncertainty. That backdrop could weigh on profitability for PepsiCo and other soft drink makers if costs stay elevated. 5 Soft Drinks Stocks to Track Amid Margin & Tariff Pressures
Negative Sentiment: PepsiCo said it will raise prices on some smaller chip bags to offset increased costs. While this may help margins, it can also pressure volume and suggests inflation remains a headwind. Lay’s and Doritos maker to raise prices on small bags of chips

About PepsiCo

(Free Report)

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.