Employees Retirement System of Texas lessened its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,234,731 shares of the company's stock after selling 129,867 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $76,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,402,151,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 12,222,885 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 11,569,920 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $500,192,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.9% in the 4th 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. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on KO shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Cfra Research raised shares of Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.81.
Get Our Latest Research Report on Coca-Cola
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total transaction of $4,335,629.62. Following the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $14,815,287.99. This trade represents a 30.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 284,469 shares of company stock valued at $20,356,667 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.
Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.1%
NYSE:KO traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $71.73. The company had a trading volume of 10,658,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,711,147. The firm has a market capitalization of $308.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.04, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $71.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.08. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $60.62 and a 12-month high of $74.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.
Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. Coca-Cola's revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.60%.
About Coca-Cola
(
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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