Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Has $38.46 Million Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd increased its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 5.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 535,140 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 29,363 shares during the quarter. Coca-Cola comprises 1.0% of Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd's holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $38,455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 8.0% during the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 46,528 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,847,000 after buying an additional 3,435 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the first quarter worth about $452,000. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 57,022 shares of the company's stock worth $3,489,000 after purchasing an additional 7,226 shares during the period. Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 8.4% in the first quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 2,265 shares of the company's stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, XML Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.1% in the first quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 25,541 shares of the company's stock worth $1,563,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on KO. Barclays dropped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Hsbc Global Res raised Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Cfra reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.36.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.3 %

KO stock traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $64.55. 7,055,621 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,531,401. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.06. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.47 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The firm has a market cap of $278.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.61. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $67.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.58.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Coca-Cola Company Profile

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.