True North Advisors LLC Purchases 781 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

True North Advisors LLC boosted its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,572 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 781 shares during the quarter. True North Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 11,206,995 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,664,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,701,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,463,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084,475 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,984,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,990,407,000 after buying an additional 1,609,565 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Hsbc Global Res raised Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.13.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE KO opened at $61.78 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. 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 $266.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.53, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.44.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.