CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) Shares Purchased by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 14.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,770,759 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 227,031 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in CocaCola were worth $126,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola in the 4th quarter valued at $3,402,151,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,727,131,000 after acquiring an additional 3,811,756 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,123,301,000 after acquiring an additional 6,118,819 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 96.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,553,337,000 after acquiring an additional 12,222,885 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,566,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,529,537,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791,300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on KO. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of CocaCola in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on CocaCola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $76.71.

CocaCola Stock Performance

KO stock traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $69.88. The stock had a trading volume of 14,903,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,376,834. The stock has a market cap of $300.78 billion, a PE ratio of 27.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.01. CocaCola Company has a 52-week low of $60.62 and a 52-week high of $74.38.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. CocaCola had a return on equity of 45.49% and a net margin of 23.00%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CocaCola news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $6,391,355.22. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 205,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,815,287.99. This trade represents a 30.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total value of $4,335,629.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 187,716 shares in the company, valued at $13,491,148.92. This represents a 24.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

About CocaCola

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.