National Pension Service Increases Stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

National Pension Service lifted its stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,151,586 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 506,665 shares during the quarter. CocaCola accounts for approximately 0.6% of National Pension Service’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. National Pension Service’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $655,437,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Klingman & Associates LLC grew its position in CocaCola by 31.5% during the first quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 12,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $896,000 after buying an additional 2,999 shares during the period. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in CocaCola during the first quarter worth about $63,000. LGT Group Foundation grew its position in CocaCola by 46.2% during the first quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 1,295,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,763,000 after buying an additional 409,445 shares during the period. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in CocaCola by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 330,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,683,000 after acquiring an additional 46,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thomas Story & Son LLC increased its holdings in CocaCola by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Thomas Story & Son LLC now owns 54,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,520 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on KO. Cfra Research upgraded shares of CocaCola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of CocaCola from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 price target on shares of CocaCola and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a report on Monday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $77.21.

CocaCola Price Performance

KO opened at $70.75 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.21. CocaCola Company has a 1 year low of $60.62 and a 1 year high of $74.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $304.48 billion, a PE ratio of 25.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.44.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.04. CocaCola had a net margin of 25.89% and a return on equity of 44.91%. The business had revenue of $12.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.34%.

Insider Activity at CocaCola

In other CocaCola news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $19,197,000.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,884,668.76. The trade was a 49.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total transaction of $2,584,063.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 209,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,477,348.30. This trade represents a 15.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About CocaCola

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.