Board of the Pension Protection Fund Takes $336,000 Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $336,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of KO. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the third quarter worth $35,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the third quarter valued at $36,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter worth $58,000. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on KO shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.60.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Coca-Cola stock opened at $61.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $267.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $62.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.06. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $57.93 and a 1 year high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,933,220.38. This trade represents a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.