The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Bought by Prosperity Financial Group Inc.

Prosperity Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 16.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,384 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $211,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,680,205,000 after purchasing an additional 11,206,995 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,664,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,964 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 18.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,271,885,000 after buying an additional 4,013,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 6.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,984,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,990,407,000 after buying an additional 1,609,565 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on KO shares. DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,769,334. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 288,146 shares of company stock valued at $20,456,524 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $71.00 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $65.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.58. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $57.93 and a 12-month high of $73.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $305.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.59%.

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.