Ninety One UK Ltd Acquires Shares of 271,600 The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 271,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,005,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the first quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 16.7% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 12,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 1,754 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 41.4% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 149,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,255,000 after purchasing an additional 43,680 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 385.3% in the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 19,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after purchasing an additional 15,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 11.9% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,840,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,115,000 after purchasing an additional 301,804 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

NYSE KO opened at $58.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $253.97 billion, a PE ratio of 23.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.59. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $51.55 and a 52 week high of $64.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.68 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 42.50%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on KO shares. Barclays raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.09.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $3,138,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at $8,602,980. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $3,138,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at $8,602,980. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,102,114.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 375,407 shares of company stock worth $22,795,742 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.