Employees Retirement System of Texas Sells 129,867 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Employees Retirement System of Texas reduced its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,234,731 shares of the company’s stock after selling 129,867 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $76,874,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 399,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,716,000 after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 17,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,258,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 120,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,674,000 after purchasing an additional 22,515 shares during the period. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.8% in the third quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC now owns 68,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,919,000 after buying an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 71.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 4.5 %

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $69.87 on Monday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $68.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $300.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.29, 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.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the company’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. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 a total of 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 over the last ninety days. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.