Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Increases Stock Holdings in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 4.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 189,019 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,473 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $13,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KO. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in CocaCola by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 39,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in CocaCola by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in CocaCola by 12.7% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 62,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,460,000 after purchasing an additional 7,029 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its stake in CocaCola by 1.4% in the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 42,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,074,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in CocaCola by 19.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 83,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,961,000 after purchasing an additional 13,261 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total value of $2,584,063.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 209,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,477,348.30. This trade represents a 15.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 target price on shares of CocaCola and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of CocaCola from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of CocaCola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.93.

CocaCola Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of CocaCola stock opened at $66.10 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.21. CocaCola Company has a 52-week low of $60.62 and a 52-week high of $74.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $284.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $68.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.88.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.04. CocaCola had a net margin of 25.89% and a return on equity of 44.91%. The firm had revenue of $12.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. CocaCola has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.970-2.970 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.34%.

About CocaCola

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.