BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Has $48.82 Million Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 14.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 784,056 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 101,200 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $48,815,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,189 shares of the company's stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the company's stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 29,412 shares of the company's stock worth $1,831,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the company's stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Tradition Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO traded up $0.67 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $71.81. 12,819,315 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,731,409. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $60.62 and a twelve month high of $74.38. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $71.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $309.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola's payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total value of $4,335,629.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 187,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,491,148.92. The trade was a 24.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 462,407 shares of company stock worth $32,990,056. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KO shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cfra Research raised Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.81.

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.