Lincoln National Corp Raises Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Lincoln National Corp raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 47.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 46,655 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,946 shares during the quarter. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $7,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PEP. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 9,623.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,058,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $519,381,000 after acquiring an additional 3,026,611 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter valued at $329,179,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 121.4% in the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,727,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,586 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,641,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in PepsiCo by 68.0% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,922,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,371 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP traded down $0.33 on Monday, hitting $175.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,576,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,716,585. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month high of $196.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $170.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $241.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. PepsiCo’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup upgraded PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.42.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo, Inc engages in the manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of various beverages and convenient foods worldwide. The company operates through seven segments: Frito-Lay North America; Quaker Foods North America; PepsiCo Beverages North America; Latin America; Europe; Africa, Middle East and South Asia; and Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand and China Region.