Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 21,862 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 703,503 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,862 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $50,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 2.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,701,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,463,373,000 after buying an additional 1,084,475 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 1.1% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 16,362,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,041,479,000 after buying an additional 177,241 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 1.9% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 11,793,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $847,468,000 after buying an additional 222,028 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 8.3% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 8,310,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $532,558,000 after buying an additional 640,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 7.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,765,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,202,000 after buying an additional 542,531 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $6,403,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. This trade represents a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $1,321,606.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,968,095. This trade represents a 7.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 160,881 shares of company stock worth $10,693,244. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $63.92 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.54. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $57.47 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $275.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. Coca-Cola’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on KO shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. 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 note on Monday, September 16th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.36.

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.