Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 280,862 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 14.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,654,910 shares of the company’s stock after selling 280,862 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $103,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vega Investment Solutions bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $90,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in Coca-Cola by 742.6% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 87,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,397,000 after purchasing an additional 76,687 shares during the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $160,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. increased its position in Coca-Cola by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 59,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,714,000 after purchasing an additional 17,099 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on KO shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target 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. DZ Bank raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $75.81.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of KO opened at $71.13 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $306.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $60.62 and a 12-month high of $74.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $71.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.93.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. The business’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $24,324,191.46. The trade was a 29.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $961,317.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,769,334. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 462,407 shares of company stock worth $32,990,056 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.