ProShare Advisors LLC Increases Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,494,281 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 211,969 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $217,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 29,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,831,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tradition Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 462,407 shares of company stock valued at $32,990,056. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $69.25 on Thursday. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $60.62 and a fifty-two week high of $74.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $298.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.04, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.68.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KO. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI upped their target price 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. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.59.

Coca-Cola 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.