Capital International Inc. CA grew its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 55.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 215,080 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 77,144 shares during the period. Capital International Inc. CA's holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $13,391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,402,151,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 96.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company's stock worth $1,553,337,000 after buying an additional 12,222,885 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 18.5% in 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. acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at $500,192,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company's stock worth $2,123,301,000 after acquiring an additional 6,118,819 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola
In related 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,769,334. This represents a 12.44 % 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 three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
KO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $74.59.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on KO
Coca-Cola Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE KO opened at $72.99 on Friday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $70.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $314.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.55, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $59.72 and a 52-week high of $73.95.
Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Coca-Cola Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. This is a boost from Coca-Cola's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola's payout ratio is presently 82.59%.
Coca-Cola Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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