Atria Investments Inc Lowers Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Atria Investments Inc lessened its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 277,331 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,625 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $17,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 11,569,920 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 13.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,271,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the third quarter worth about $269,382,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 2,966,964 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KO. TD Cowen raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted 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 assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

NYSE KO opened at $70.08 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $301.40 billion, a PE ratio of 28.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. The business’s fifty day moving average is $64.87 and its 200 day moving average is $66.53. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders 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 is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.59%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $10,327,339.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $24,324,191.46. This represents a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,769,334. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 232,646 shares of company stock worth $16,515,469 over the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.