Viking Fund Management LLC Purchases 20,000 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Viking Fund Management LLC raised its position in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 120,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $7,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in CocaCola by 5,142.9% in the 2nd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 367 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in CocaCola during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. MMA Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in CocaCola during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, GFG Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Max R. Levchin acquired 7,206 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $69.87 per share, with a total value of $503,483.22. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 14,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,835.29. The trade was a 102.05% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Manuel Arroyo sold 139,689 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.80, for a total value of $9,889,981.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,111,143.60. This trade represents a 70.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 225,252 shares of company stock worth $15,953,007. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on CocaCola from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of CocaCola in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of CocaCola from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $79.08.

CocaCola Stock Performance

NYSE KO opened at $70.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.00. CocaCola Company has a 1-year low of $60.62 and a 1-year high of $74.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $301.53 billion, a PE ratio of 23.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.39.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter. CocaCola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 27.34%.The firm had revenue of $11.40 billion during the quarter. On average, research analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.55%.

CocaCola Profile

The Coca‑Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a global beverage manufacturer, marketer and distributor best known for its flagship Coca‑Cola soda. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company develops and sells concentrates, syrups and finished beverages across a broad portfolio of brands. Its product range spans sparkling soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready‑to‑drink teas and coffees, and other still beverages, marketed under both global and regional brand names.

Coca‑Cola’s brand portfolio includes widely recognized names such as Coca‑Cola, Diet Coke, Coca‑Cola Zero Sugar, Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid, Powerade and Dasani, and in recent years the company has expanded into the coffee and premium beverage categories through acquisitions such as Costa Coffee.