Scotia Capital Inc. Acquires 46,325 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 541,707 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 46,325 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $33,732,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. F M Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 521,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,448,000 after purchasing an additional 6,025 shares in the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 191,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,937,000 after buying an additional 73,471 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 294.8% in the 4th quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 17,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,068,000 after buying an additional 12,808 shares in the last quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 262.3% during the fourth quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 17,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 12,523 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Yale Capital Corp. raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 51,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,232,000 after purchasing an additional 2,665 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Coca-Cola stock opened at $69.75 on Thursday. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.24, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $69.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.36.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 82.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on KO. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,676 shares in the company, valued at $6,769,334. This trade represents a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.