National Pension Service Raises Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

National Pension Service lifted its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,644,921 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,027,823 shares during the period. Coca-Cola accounts for approximately 0.5% of National Pension Service’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. National Pension Service owned about 0.20% of Coca-Cola worth $538,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 21,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 39,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Great Diamond Partners LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 10,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KO. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. 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 report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, 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 note on Tuesday, January 28th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.82.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $71.54 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $308.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $57.93 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.44.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 78.54%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate 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.