The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Acquired by LGT Group Foundation

LGT Group Foundation lifted its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 885,760 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,378 shares during the quarter. Coca-Cola makes up about 0.9% of LGT Group Foundation’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $55,147,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 39,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,440,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Diamond Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,769,334. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. DZ Bank raised 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 Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of KO opened at $71.20 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $64.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $306.22 billion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. 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 2.87%. 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.