California Public Employees Retirement System Grows Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,702,286 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 321,276 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.27% of Coca-Cola worth $728,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,451,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,394,000 after purchasing an additional 269,414 shares in the last quarter. Allianz SE acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $10,122,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 15,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $978,000 after buying an additional 2,183 shares during the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 29,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,814,000 after acquiring an additional 1,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 2,983.3% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 121,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,579,000 after acquiring an additional 117,780 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’s 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total value of $1,806,547.19. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 52,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,749,745.02. The trade was a 32.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on KO shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of KO opened at $70.36 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $57.93 and a twelve month high of $73.53. 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 market capitalization of $302.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.49, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $67.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.41.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.59%.

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.