iA Global Asset Management Inc. Purchases 50,577 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 34.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 196,650 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,577 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $12,243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,681,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,720,000 after acquiring an additional 44,630 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 30.6% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,605 shares in the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank grew its position in Coca-Cola by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 57,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,580,000 after buying an additional 3,938 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Coca-Cola by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,909,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,888,000 after buying an additional 4,862 shares during the period. Finally, L.K. Benson & Company P.C. bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at about $244,000. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 over the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $69.33 on Thursday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $57.93 and a 12-month high of $73.53. The company has a market cap of $298.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.07, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $66.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly 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 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. On average, equities analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the subject of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

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.