Challenger Wealth Management Purchases New Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Challenger Wealth Management bought a new stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 11,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $685,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,402,151,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,727,131,000 after buying an additional 3,811,756 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,123,301,000 after buying an additional 6,118,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 96.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,553,337,000 after buying an additional 12,222,885 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $6,391,355.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 205,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,815,287.99. This represents a 30.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 55,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $3,941,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,533,008.09. The trade was a 18.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 229,761 shares of company stock valued at $16,474,587. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:KO traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $71.21. 4,456,762 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,652,826. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $60.62 and a twelve month high of $74.38. 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 50 day moving average of $71.23 and a 200 day moving average of $67.14. The stock has a market cap of $306.52 billion, a PE ratio of 28.81, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. The business's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola's payout ratio is presently 81.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Cfra Research raised Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a report 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. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $75.81.

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.