Rathbones Group PLC Buys 164,503 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Rathbones Group PLC raised its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,605,600 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 164,503 shares during the period. Coca-Cola accounts for approximately 1.7% of Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Rathbones Group PLC owned 0.13% of Coca-Cola worth $349,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Insider Activity

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,769,334. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. Insiders sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 in the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 4.5 %

Shares of KO stock opened at $69.87 on Monday. 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 Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $57.93 and a fifty-two week high of $73.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.67 billion, a PE ratio of 28.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.38.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. Equities analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

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.