Capital International Ltd. CA Purchases New Shares in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Capital International Ltd. CA bought a new position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 44,161 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,749,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,617,400,000 after buying an additional 11,569,920 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,402,151,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company's stock worth $2,123,301,000 after purchasing an additional 6,118,819 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in Coca-Cola by 96.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,553,337,000 after buying an additional 12,222,885 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,566,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,529,537,000 after buying an additional 3,791,300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.59.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of KO traded up $1.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $72.99. The company had a trading volume of 20,745,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,385,871. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The company has a market capitalization of $314.13 billion, a PE ratio of 29.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $59.72 and a one year high of $73.95. The company's fifty day moving average price is $70.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.36.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.51 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,324,191.46. This represents a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.