Voleon Capital Management LP Takes Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 40,357 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,513,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company's stock worth $4,617,400,000 after acquiring an additional 11,569,920 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth $3,402,151,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company's stock worth $2,727,131,000 after purchasing an additional 3,811,756 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,123,301,000 after purchasing an additional 6,118,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 96.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,553,337,000 after purchasing an additional 12,222,885 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on KO shares. TD Cowen raised shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $75.59.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,520,662.64. The trade was a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:KO traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $71.69. 12,626,934 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,427,276. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.59. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $60.62 and a one year high of $74.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $308.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio is 81.60%.

About Coca-Cola

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.