Waterloo Capital L.P. Grows Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Waterloo Capital L.P. boosted its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,415 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,118 shares during the quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,402,151,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Coca-Cola by 18.5% during 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 buying an additional 11,569,920 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $500,192,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,123,301,000 after acquiring an additional 6,118,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 4.5 %

Shares of KO stock opened at $69.87 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $57.93 and a fifty-two week high of $73.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $68.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.42. The stock has a market cap of $300.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. On average, analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on KO. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, February 6th. DZ Bank raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. 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 note on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

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.