Arizona State Retirement System Buys 14,934 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,188,370 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,934 shares during the quarter. Coca-Cola accounts for 0.5% of Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $73,988,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the third quarter worth about $18,383,000. Balentine LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 92.4% in the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 28,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,048,000 after buying an additional 13,685 shares during the period. Rice Partnership LLC increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 102,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,397,000 after acquiring an additional 6,793 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 104.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 116,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,351,000 after purchasing an additional 59,503 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 87.7% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 18,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 8,499 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 3.1 %

NYSE:KO opened at $70.08 on Wednesday. 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 one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.53. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.53. The company has a market cap of $301.40 billion, a PE ratio of 28.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. On average, research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. 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%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,520,662.64. The trade was a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.