National Pension Service Has $655.44 Million Position in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in CocaCola, owning 9,151,586 shares valued at approximately $655.44 million, making it the 26th largest position in their portfolio.
• Several institutions, including Klingman & Associates and LGT Group Foundation, have also increased their holdings in CocaCola during the first quarter, indicating growing institutional interest.
• CocaCola reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.87, surpassing analyst predictions, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.51, contributing to a annualized dividend yield of 2.9%.

National Pension Service boosted its holdings in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,151,586 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 506,665 shares during the period. CocaCola makes up about 0.6% of National Pension Service's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. National Pension Service owned about 0.21% of CocaCola worth $655,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Klingman & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 31.5% during the first quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 12,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 2,999 shares during the period. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CocaCola in the first quarter worth about $63,000. LGT Group Foundation grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 46.2% during the first quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 1,295,205 shares of the company's stock worth $92,763,000 after buying an additional 409,445 shares in the last quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 16.3% during the first quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 330,676 shares of the company's stock worth $23,683,000 after buying an additional 46,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thomas Story & Son LLC grew its stake in CocaCola by 2.9% in the first quarter. Thomas Story & Son LLC now owns 54,089 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on KO. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a report on Monday, June 9th. Cfra Research upgraded CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 target price on CocaCola and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on CocaCola from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued 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 an average price target of $77.21.

CocaCola Price Performance

KO opened at $70.75 on Wednesday. CocaCola Company has a fifty-two week low of $60.62 and a fifty-two week high of $74.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a fifty day moving average of $70.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $304.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.44.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.04. CocaCola had a net margin of 25.89% and a return on equity of 44.91%. The business had revenue of $12.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio is currently 72.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total value of $2,584,063.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 209,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,477,348.30. This represents a 15.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $19,197,000.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 275,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,884,668.76. The trade was a 49.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% 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.

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