Ally Financial Inc. Makes New $5.79 Million Investment in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Ally Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 93,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,790,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,189 shares of the company's stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC raised its position in Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the company's stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 29,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the company's stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Brown Inc. increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 21,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,309,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Cfra Research raised shares of Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $74.59.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO traded up $1.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $72.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,745,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,409,159. The company has a market cap of $314.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.55, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.42. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $59.00 and a 52-week high of $73.95.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. On average, equities analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

Insider Activity

In other Coca-Cola news, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total value of $1,806,547.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 52,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,749,745.02. The trade was a 32.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the sale, the insider now owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Coca-Cola

The Coca-Cola Company, a beverage company, manufactures, markets, and sells various nonalcoholic beverages worldwide. The company provides sparkling soft drinks, sparkling flavors; water, sports, coffee, and tea; juice, value-added dairy, and plant-based beverages; and other beverages. It also offers beverage concentrates and syrups, as well as fountain syrups to fountain retailers, such as restaurants and convenience stores.