Cullen Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Cullen Capital Management LLC reduced its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,539 shares of the company’s stock after selling 680 shares during the period. Cullen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,664,005,000 after buying an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,617,400,000 after purchasing an additional 11,569,920 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth about $3,402,151,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,123,301,000 after purchasing an additional 6,118,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 18,313,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,130,138,000 after purchasing an additional 550,582 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total value of $1,806,547.19. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 52,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,749,745.02. The trade was a 32.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 4.5 %

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $69.87 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.95. The company has a market capitalization of $300.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.29, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $68.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released 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 net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 82.59%.

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.