CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Sells 6,499 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co trimmed its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,568,162 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,499 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned approximately 0.11% of Coca-Cola worth $284,375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 399,607 shares of the company's stock worth $28,716,000 after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 25.0% during the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 17,500 shares of the company's stock worth $1,258,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 182,521 shares of the company's stock worth $13,116,000 after acquiring an additional 680 shares during the period. Aldebaran Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 11,711 shares of the company's stock valued at $842,000 after acquiring an additional 2,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthquest Corp purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter worth $412,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KO. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $74.59.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total transaction of $1,806,547.19. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 52,466 shares in the company, valued at $3,749,745.02. This represents a 32.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:KO traded up $1.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $72.99. The company had a trading volume of 20,745,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,409,159. The firm has a market cap of $314.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $59.00 and a fifty-two week high of $73.95. The business's fifty day moving average is $70.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 yield of 2.79%. Coca-Cola's payout ratio is 82.59%.

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.