Apollon Wealth Management LLC Buys 14,268 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 31.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 60,113 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,268 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $10,210,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Lincoln National Corp boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 47.1% in the 4th quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 46,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,924,000 after purchasing an additional 14,946 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 107,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares during the period. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,093,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 54,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,029,000 after purchasing an additional 4,022 shares during the period. Finally, AllGen Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. AllGen Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 15,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,712,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of PepsiCo stock traded up $2.20 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $178.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,425,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,690,610. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $155.83 and a one year high of $196.88. The company has a market capitalization of $244.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $170.30 and its two-hundred day simple 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.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.