Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 551,868 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,063,560 shares of the company's stock after selling 551,868 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 0.72% of Coca-Cola worth $1,934,017,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 565,597 shares of the company's stock worth $35,214,000 after acquiring an additional 34,118 shares in the last quarter. United Bank increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. United Bank now owns 84,477 shares of the company's stock worth $5,260,000 after acquiring an additional 3,589 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 644,156 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,751,000 after acquiring an additional 3,779 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 11,702,286 shares of the company's stock worth $728,584,000 after acquiring an additional 321,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,451,883 shares of the company's stock worth $90,394,000 after purchasing an additional 269,414 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $74.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company'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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,324,191.46. This represents a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 over the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KO traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $71.46. 14,465,990 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,938,500. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $68.14 and a 200 day moving average of $66.39. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $57.93 and a 1 year high of $73.53. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $307.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

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.