Covea Finance Makes New Investment in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Covea Finance purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 75,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,407,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in CocaCola during the fourth quarter worth about $2,513,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its stake in CocaCola by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 848,868 shares of the company's stock worth $52,851,000 after acquiring an additional 204,681 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CocaCola by 3.3% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 121,279 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,686,000 after buying an additional 3,920 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of CocaCola by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 10,484,527 shares of the company's stock valued at $652,767,000 after buying an additional 783,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, StoneX Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of CocaCola by 80.0% in the fourth quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 51,775 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,224,000 after buying an additional 23,009 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Piper Sandler increased their target price on CocaCola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CocaCola presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Insider Transactions at CocaCola

In related news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 187,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,491,148.92. This trade represents a 24.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CocaCola Price Performance

Shares of KO opened at $68.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $296.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.54, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $71.50 and a 200-day moving average of $68.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. CocaCola's payout ratio is 81.60%.

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.

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