First Merchants Corp Purchases 3,610 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

First Merchants Corp lifted its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,150 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,610 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp's holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Arcus Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 633,499 shares of the company's stock worth $38,757,000 after purchasing an additional 5,124 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 5,617 shares of the company's stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 902 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 16,021,195 shares of the company's stock valued at $997,480,000 after buying an additional 351,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 104,202 shares of the company's stock worth $6,488,000 after buying an additional 14,925 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $73.82.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KO traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $68.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,769,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,089,333. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $57.93 and a 52 week high of $73.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $63.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $296.59 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.61.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.