BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Raises Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 59.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 784,470 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 292,548 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $49,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,016,023,000 after buying an additional 8,733,326 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,337,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $890,866,000 after buying an additional 378,447 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Coca-Cola by 30.5% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,698,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $776,924,000 after buying an additional 2,964,850 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,032,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,051,000 after buying an additional 2,973,234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 15.7% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,433,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $638,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,930 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.1 %

KO stock opened at $71.71 on Tuesday. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $51.55 and a one year high of $73.53. The firm has a market cap of $308.92 billion, a PE ratio of 28.68, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $69.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.60%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total value of $7,179,360.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,987,070.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,742,280,050. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $7,179,360.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,987,070.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 974,715 shares of company stock worth $579,704,927. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on KO shares. Bank of America raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com cut Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.07.

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.