Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Purchases 3,859 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 218,894 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,859 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.'s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $13,628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the subject of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.24.

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Coca-Cola Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of KO stock traded up $1.50 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $71.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,462,785 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,002,766. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $57.93 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The stock has a market cap of $309.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.09, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $67.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.38.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This is an increase from Coca-Cola's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $961,317.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,769,334. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

Coca-Cola 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.