Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Trims Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund cut its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 31.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 687,788 shares of the company’s stock after selling 319,512 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $49,424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cynosure Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 46.4% during the third quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 5,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 5.2% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 325,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,418,000 after acquiring an additional 16,198 shares in the last quarter. NCP Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 9.2% during the third quarter. NCP Inc. now owns 3,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Bank grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.0% during the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 70,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,100,000 after buying an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.5% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 29,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,933,220.38. This trade represents a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO opened at $64.43 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $277.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.62, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $67.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.57. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $57.47 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on KO shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Cfra reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.36.

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.