Amundi Purchases 550,582 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Amundi lifted its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,313,696 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 550,582 shares during the period. Amundi owned 0.43% of Coca-Cola worth $1,130,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of 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 period. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 21,024 shares of the company's stock worth $1,309,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 39,198 shares of the company's stock worth $2,440,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Diamond Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 10,314 shares of the company's stock valued at $642,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 246,909 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. The trade was a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 288,146 shares of company stock worth $20,456,524 in the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $71.00. 28,069,766 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,026,756. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $305.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.24.

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.