Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Raises Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 84.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,007,300 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 460,453 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $64,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 65.0% during the first quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 1.0 %

KO stock opened at $71.01 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $305.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.60. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $51.55 and a 12 month high of $73.53. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.60%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.96, for a total transaction of $1,253,987.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,507,516.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.96, for a total transaction of $1,253,987.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,507,516.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 58,122 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.51, for a total value of $3,981,938.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,074,330.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 974,715 shares of company stock worth $579,704,927. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on KO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.07.

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.