Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. Has $2.48 Million Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 39,829 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after buying an additional 11,206,995 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after acquiring an additional 4,013,996 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at approximately $269,382,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,664,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,765,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $486,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,921,241 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.2 %

KO opened at $70.93 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $57.93 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $64.36 and its 200 day moving average is $66.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $305.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.72, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. Research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 82.59%.

Insider Activity

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,324,191.46. This trade represents a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469 in the last ninety days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the topic of a number of research reports. DZ Bank upgraded 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 Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.82.

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.