Legal & General Group Plc Sells 9,685,121 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 26.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,920,251 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,685,121 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.62% of Coca-Cola worth $1,676,055,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $3,402,151,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 18.5% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at about $500,192,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company's stock worth $2,123,301,000 after buying an additional 6,118,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,566,933 shares of the company's stock worth $1,529,537,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE KO traded up $1.04 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $70.99. 11,287,517 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,241,377. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $57.93 and a 52-week high of $73.95. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.36. The firm has a market cap of $305.51 billion, a PE ratio of 28.67, 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.

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Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors 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 dividend yield of 2.87%. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.59%.

Insider Activity

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 in the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on KO. UBS Group increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank raised 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. TD Cowen 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 research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. 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 data from 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.