OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Sells 96,131 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 25.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 278,999 shares of the company’s stock after selling 96,131 shares during the quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $17,377,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of KO. Rice Partnership LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 102,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,397,000 after purchasing an additional 6,793 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 87.7% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 18,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,132,000 after buying an additional 8,499 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after buying an additional 4,013,996 shares during the period. Clark & Stuart Inc purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,582,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 222.9% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 192,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,814,000 after acquiring an additional 132,701 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $69.34 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.51. 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 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $298.21 billion, a PE ratio of 28.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research 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 stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on 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. The trade was a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 in the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.