Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Lowers Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund decreased its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 687,788 shares of the company’s stock after selling 319,512 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $49,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KO. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Mount Lucas Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KO. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Cfra restated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.36.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $6,403,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO opened at $64.43 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $57.47 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.57. The company has a market cap of $277.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. Coca-Cola’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

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.