Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Acquires 1,354 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,243 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,354 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $3,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of KO. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Coca-Cola in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the third quarter worth approximately $58,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on KO shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Coca-Cola in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $21,933,220.38. This trade represents a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 1.2 %

KO stock opened at $60.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $262.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.46. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. Analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

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.