Vinva Investment Management Ltd Increases Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 194,371 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,136 shares during the quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $12,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,617,400,000 after purchasing an additional 11,569,920 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,680,205,000 after buying an additional 11,206,995 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth approximately $500,192,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after buying an additional 4,013,996 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the third quarter worth approximately $269,382,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total transaction of $1,806,547.19. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 52,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,749,745.02. This represents a 32.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 1.1 %

Coca-Cola stock opened at $69.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $66.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.51. The firm has a market cap of $298.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $57.93 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 82.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on KO. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Coca-Cola presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.24.

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.