Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Grows Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 86,087 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,208 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $5,071,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KO. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 103,297.9% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 57,734,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,672,479,000 after purchasing an additional 57,678,466 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,937,315,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 79,101,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,031,669,000 after purchasing an additional 10,722,435 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 164.7% in the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,430,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $868,981,000 after purchasing an additional 8,979,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 61.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,764,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,373,000 after purchasing an additional 4,095,881 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $58.51. 13,784,624 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,817,021. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $59.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $51.55 and a twelve month high of $64.99. The company has a market capitalization of $252.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.59.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.01. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.50% and a net margin of 23.42%. The business had revenue of $10.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 78.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on KO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $3,138,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,602,980. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,102,114.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 375,407 shares of company stock valued at $22,795,742. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.