Ally Financial Inc. Buys Shares of 93,000 The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Ally Financial Inc. bought a new stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 93,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,790,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Tobias Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth approximately $222,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 10,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $612,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Capital Square LLC grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 9,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $592,000 after buying an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. MSH Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $3,708,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 93.2% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,571,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,087,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,720 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $71.72 on Thursday. 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 market cap of $308.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $70.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.40. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $58.10 and a one year high of $73.95.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released 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 return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 82.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. The trade was a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 52,466 shares in the company, valued at $3,749,745.02. This trade represents a 32.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has an average 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.