Jennison Associates LLC Has $2.70 Million Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Jennison Associates LLC reduced its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,816 shares of the company’s stock after selling 610 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,138,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,501,789,000 after purchasing an additional 2,464,618 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,913,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,514,234,000 after buying an additional 2,040,664 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Coca-Cola by 8.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,845,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,446,822,000 after buying an additional 1,963,963 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Coca-Cola by 2.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 80,448,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,503,484,000 after buying an additional 1,950,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 96.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,548,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,743,163 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $15,063,636.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,968,753.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $15,063,636.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at $26,968,753.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 375,407 shares of company stock worth $22,795,742. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.22.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO stock opened at $61.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $266.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.82. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $51.55 and a 12 month high of $64.69.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued 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 during 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 firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.23%.

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.