M&G Plc Sells 46,074 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

M&G Plc lessened its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,529,117 shares of the company’s stock after selling 46,074 shares during the period. Coca-Cola makes up about 1.0% of M&G Plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. M&G Plc owned about 0.06% of Coca-Cola worth $161,863,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,016,023,000 after acquiring an additional 8,733,326 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $2,808,056,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,171,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $894,028,000 after acquiring an additional 814,779 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,337,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $890,866,000 after acquiring an additional 378,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 13,804,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $813,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,949,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Argus increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total transaction of $5,042,744.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 218,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,644,979.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,742,280,050. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total transaction of $5,042,744.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 218,880 shares in the company, valued at $13,644,979.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 928,460 shares of company stock worth $575,312,245. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $68.46. 9,875,315 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,059,503. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $51.55 and a one year high of $69.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $294.92 billion, a PE ratio of 27.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.59. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.15.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The firm had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

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.