First Merchants Corp Has $2.19 Million Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

First Merchants Corp lifted its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,150 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,610 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KO. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after purchasing an additional 11,206,995 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after buying an additional 4,013,996 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter worth $269,382,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,664,005,000 after buying an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 7,006.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,478,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,104,000 after acquiring an additional 2,443,612 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.82.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Coca-Cola stock opened at $69.48 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $299.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $62.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.33. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $57.93 and a 52-week high of $73.53. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.