ProShare Advisors LLC Purchases 211,969 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,494,281 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 211,969 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.08% of Coca-Cola worth $217,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 41.9% in the 4th quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on KO. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Cfra Research raised Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $75.59.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on 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 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 trade represents a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total value of $4,335,629.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 187,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,491,148.92. This represents a 24.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 462,407 shares of company stock valued at $32,990,056. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of KO stock traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $71.83. The company had a trading volume of 4,279,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,623,064. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $60.62 and a 12 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.78. The company has a market cap of $309.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion for 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola's payout ratio is 81.60%.

Coca-Cola 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.