The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Acquired by Summit Global Investments

Summit Global Investments boosted its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 28.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 91,425 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20,347 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $5,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ZRC Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 213.3% in the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Avion Wealth boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 64.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 819 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 36.1% during the third quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $15,063,636.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at $26,968,753.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $15,063,636.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 323,107 shares of company stock worth $19,657,742. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.27.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KO traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $62.07. 7,310,657 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,997,871. The company has a market cap of $267.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.88, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $60.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.04. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $51.55 and a 52 week high of $64.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.01 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.41% and a return on equity of 42.74%. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.60%.

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.