Crestline Management LP Has $11.93 Million Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Crestline Management LP grew its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 28.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 191,667 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,804 shares during the quarter. Crestline Management LP’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $11,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,617,400,000 after buying an additional 11,569,920 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,402,151,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,727,131,000 after acquiring an additional 3,811,756 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,123,301,000 after purchasing an additional 6,118,819 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 96.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,553,337,000 after purchasing an additional 12,222,885 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Cfra Research upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $75.59.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $10,327,339.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,324,191.46. This represents a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $71.71 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The company has a market cap of $308.61 billion, a PE ratio of 29.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $70.92 and a 200-day moving average of $66.55. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $60.62 and a 1-year high of $74.38.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.60%.

Coca-Cola 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.