First Trust Advisors LP Has $252.26 Million Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,051,672 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 335,409 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $252,257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. increased its position in Coca-Cola by 41.9% during the fourth quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola 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 value of $1,344,732.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $961,317.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,769,334. The trade was a 12.44 % 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 worth $22,263,071 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on KO shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cfra Research upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $74.59.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $72.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $314.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $59.72 and a 12-month high of $73.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.39.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

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.