The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Purchased by First Merchants Corp

First Merchants Corp raised its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,150 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,610 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after acquiring an additional 11,206,995 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,664,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,964 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,271,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 6.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,984,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,990,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,609,565 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in Coca-Cola by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 16,021,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $997,480,000 after buying an additional 351,462 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $69.48 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.33. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $57.93 and a 52 week high of $73.53. 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 company has a market cap of $299.28 billion, a PE ratio of 28.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results 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 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. As a group, research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on KO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.82.

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.