E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 19.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,236 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 80,448,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,503,484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950,146 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,138,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,501,789,000 after buying an additional 2,464,618 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,913,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,514,234,000 after buying an additional 2,040,664 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,845,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,446,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,963,963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 13,804,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $813,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949,500 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $15,063,636.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,968,753.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total transaction of $15,063,636.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,102,114.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 380,405 shares of company stock valued at $23,209,645. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of Coca-Cola stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Thursday, reaching $62.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,921,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,826,118. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $60.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.33. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $51.55 and a fifty-two week high of $64.25. The firm has a market cap of $270.88 billion, a PE ratio of 25.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.41% and a return on equity of 42.74%. The company had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. Coca-Cola’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on KO. UBS Group increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.27.

Coca-Cola Company 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.