Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Acquires 174,948 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,027,396 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 174,948 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC's holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $145,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Mount Lucas Management LP bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the second quarter worth about $38,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cfra restated a "hold" rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, September 5th. 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.50.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO traded down $0.72 during trading on Friday, hitting $63.12. 13,429,033 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,848,538. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.47 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The company has a market capitalization of $271.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The business's 50 day moving average is $65.41 and its 200-day moving average is $66.61.

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

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

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.