Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Decreases Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lessened its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 548,424 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,237 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado's holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $34,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.59.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO traded down $0.82 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $71.74. The stock had a trading volume of 8,542,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,399,512. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $70.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.58. The stock has a market cap of $308.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.02, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $60.62 and a twelve month high of $74.38.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Coca-Cola's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.60%.

Insider Activity

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total transaction of $1,806,547.19. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 52,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,749,745.02. This represents a 32.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071. Insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

Coca-Cola Company 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.