Fox Run Management L.L.C. Takes Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 22,521 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,402,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,617,400,000 after purchasing an additional 11,569,920 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,680,205,000 after buying an additional 11,206,995 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $500,192,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,271,885,000 after acquiring an additional 4,013,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,664,005,000 after acquiring an additional 2,966,964 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on KO. TD Cowen upgraded shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler lifted 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of KO opened at $68.58 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $57.93 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53. The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.00 and a 200 day moving average of $66.52. The firm has a market cap of $295.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total value of $1,806,547.19. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 52,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,749,745.02. The trade was a 32.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.