TCW Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

TCW Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 143,814 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 877 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $8,954,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after buying an additional 11,206,995 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after acquiring an additional 4,013,996 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at approximately $269,382,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,664,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,964 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 7,006.8% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,478,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,104,000 after purchasing an additional 2,443,612 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on KO shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, February 6th. DZ Bank upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.82.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE KO opened at $71.37 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $307.46 billion, a PE ratio of 28.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.54%.

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.