Larson Financial Group LLC Increases Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 240.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,351 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,719 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of KO. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 80,448,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,503,484,000 after buying an additional 1,950,146 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,138,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,501,789,000 after purchasing an additional 2,464,618 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,913,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,514,234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,664 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 8.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,845,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,446,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,963,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 13,804,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $813,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949,500 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,102,114.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $3,138,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 143,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,602,980. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,102,114.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 375,407 shares of company stock worth $22,795,742 in the last ninety days. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:KO traded down $0.06 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.49. The company had a trading volume of 7,614,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,817,437. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.67. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $51.55 and a one year high of $64.99. The stock has a market cap of $260.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.59.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.01. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.50% and a net margin of 23.42%. The firm had revenue of $10.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on KO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Citigroup upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.09.

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.