The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Sold by Corebridge Financial Inc.

Corebridge Financial Inc. decreased its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 891,060 shares of the company’s stock after selling 52,964 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $55,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 1,287,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,166,000 after purchasing an additional 160,757 shares during the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 42,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,665,000 after buying an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group raised 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Coca-Cola stock opened at $68.58 on Monday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $57.93 and a 1 year high of $73.53. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $67.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.43. The company has a market cap of $295.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.76, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. 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 2.97%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In related news, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 52,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,749,745.02. This represents a 32.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14 % 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 in the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.