PepsiCo Board Approves $4 Billion Stock Buyback

PepsiCo's

(PEP) - Get Report

board authorized a $4 billion share repurchase program for the next three years.

The new program will go into effect after the company completes the current $3 billion program, which was authorized in March 1999 and is expected to be completed by early 2001.

Since the beginning of 1996, PepsiCo has invested about $9 billion in share repurchases, including $1.3 billion so far this year.

Shares of PepsiCo were recently trading up $1.31, or 2.9%, to $46.31 on the

New York Stock Exchange

. The company has about 1.44 billion shares outstanding.