Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 26.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,920,251 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,685,121 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.62% of Coca-Cola worth $1,676,055,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,566,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,529,537,000 after buying an additional 3,791,300 shares during the last quarter. Bell Asset Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 106.9% during the fourth quarter. Bell Asset Management Ltd now owns 144,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,967,000 after acquiring an additional 74,419 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. now owns 214,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,329,000 after purchasing an additional 17,970 shares in the last quarter. Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 479 shares during the period. Finally, Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 5,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 4.5 %

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $69.87 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $68.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.38. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $57.93 and a 12-month high of $73.95. The company has a market capitalization of $300.67 billion, a PE ratio of 28.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.59%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $10,327,339.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,324,191.46. This trade represents a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.