PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP)

The Vickers Top Buyers & Sellers is a daily report that identifies the five companies the largest insider purchase transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions as well as the five companies the largest insider sales transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions.

PepsiCo, founded in 1898, produces and sells food, snacks, and beverages around the world. The company's brands include Lay's, Santitas, Ruffles, Doritos, Tostitos, Cheetos, Quaker Oatmeal, and Rice-A-Roni; its beverage portfolio includes Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Lipton, Brisk, and various bottled-water products. The company also provides tea and coffee products through a joint venture with Starbucks and Unilever. The company has approximately 306,000 employees. The shares are a component of the S&P 500.

Fresh inflation data will be released this week, but the onset of earnings report likely will take center stage in the form of updates from the big banks. Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq all gained about 1%. Year to date, the DJIA is up 7%, the S&P 500 14%, and the Nasdaq 18%. On the economic calendar, two important inflation reports top the list this week. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) will be released on Wednesday, followed by the Producer Price Index (PPI) on Thursday. Both of those reports will be of interest to the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) as the members of that body ponder their next decision about the path of interest rates (which will come on October 28). The odds related to a possible rate increase have been flipping back and forth -- but as of Friday, the odds for no move were 81%. On the earnings calendar, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Johnson & Johnson, and UnitedHealth all report on Tuesday. Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, State Street Bank, and ExxonMobil are on the list for Wednesday. Taiwan Semiconductor, Charles Schwab, Bank of New York Mellon, and PNC Financial are on Thursday, and Traveler's Companies, Truist Financial, M&T Bank, and Citizens Financial are on Friday. Turning to other economic metrics, gas prices fell 11 cents last week, to an average of $4.35 per gallon for regular gas. Elsewhere, the Atlanta Fed GDPNow forecast calls for GDP growth of 3.6% in the third quarter. This forecast has been bouncing around over the last few weeks. The Cleveland Fed Inflation Nowcast CPI outlook remains at 3.6% for September and October. Mortgage rates popped up another 12 basis points last week, with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now at 7.40%, according to FreddieMac. Taking a deeper dive into performance so far in 2026, a leading industrialized global stock market index, the ETF EFA, is up 7% year to date, while the leading emerging market ETF (EEM) is up 22%. U.S. growth stocks are up 7% when looking at ETF IWF, and value stocks (IWD) are up 20%. Crude oil prices continue to be volatile. On Friday, oil was at about $91 per barrel, up 57% for the year. In other asset classes for the year to date, AGG bonds are down 6%, gold is down 4%, and Bitcoin is down 6%. The U.S. dollar is up 4%, tracking DXY. The VIX Volatility Index was at about 15 on Friday, below its historical average of 20. Turning to sector performance, the list from first to worst so far in 2026 is Energy (+46%), Information Technology (+37%), Industrial (+9%), Materials (+9%), Healthcare (+9%), Consumer Staples (+7%), Real Estate (+1%), Financials (-1%), Utilities (-4%), Communication Services (-5%), and Consumer Discretionary (-6%).

This pick list highlights constituents of the Morningstar US Large Cap Index that we believe offer investors the best risk-adjusted return prospects. Stocks of large-cap companies where neither growth nor value characteristics predominate. Stocks in the top 70% of the capitalization of the U.S. equity market are defined as large cap.