AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $501,000 Investment in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 8,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KO. NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 210,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,106,000 after buying an additional 27,535 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in Coca-Cola by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 692,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,101,000 after purchasing an additional 55,494 shares during the period. Sava Infond d.o.o. bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $115,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2,696.6% in the 4th quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 84,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,260,000 after purchasing an additional 81,464 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,144,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,529,000 after purchasing an additional 195,889 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total transaction of $1,806,547.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 52,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,749,745.02. This trade represents a 32.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $70.80 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 company has a market cap of $304.70 billion, a PE ratio of 28.66, a P/E/G 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. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.46.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS 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, equities analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.