Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Lowers Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lowered its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 824,370 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,025 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $51,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 691 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at $17,520,662.64. The trade was a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 over the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Piper Sandler increased their target price 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 report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.1 %

KO stock opened at $69.33 on Thursday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $57.93 and a 12 month high of $73.53. 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 company has a market cap of $298.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $66.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

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.