Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $50.55 Million Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 703,503 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,862 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $50,554,000 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 KO. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Coca-Cola by 2.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,701,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,463,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084,475 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in Coca-Cola by 1.1% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 16,362,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,041,479,000 after purchasing an additional 177,241 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Coca-Cola by 1.9% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 11,793,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $847,468,000 after purchasing an additional 222,028 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in Coca-Cola by 8.3% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 8,310,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $532,558,000 after purchasing an additional 640,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Coca-Cola by 7.5% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,765,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,202,000 after purchasing an additional 542,531 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cfra reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.36.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE KO opened at $63.92 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $57.47 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $67.79 and a 200-day moving average of $66.54. The stock has a market cap of $275.35 billion, a PE ratio of 26.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The business had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $1,321,606.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,968,095. The trade was a 7.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 160,881 shares of company stock worth $10,693,244 in the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.