FORA Capital LLC Buys New Shares in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 20,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,299,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,617,400,000 after purchasing an additional 11,569,920 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,402,151,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,727,131,000 after acquiring an additional 3,811,756 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,123,301,000 after acquiring an additional 6,118,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 96.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,553,337,000 after purchasing an additional 12,222,885 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 1.6 %

KO stock opened at $71.23 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $60.62 and a 12 month high of $74.38. 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 company has a market cap of $306.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $70.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.64.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company’s 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $6,391,355.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 205,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,287.99. This trade represents a 30.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 402,081 shares of company stock valued at $28,654,426. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cfra Research raised shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $75.59.

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.