Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 112,599 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 751,989 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 112,599 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $46,819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the third quarter valued at approximately $18,383,000. Balentine LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 92.4% in the 3rd quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 28,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,048,000 after purchasing an additional 13,685 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 104.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 116,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,351,000 after purchasing an additional 59,503 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 850,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,122,000 after purchasing an additional 46,541 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 87.7% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 18,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 8,499 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were 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 $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Coca-Cola stock opened at $61.71 on Thursday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.53. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $265.83 billion, a PE ratio of 25.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.47.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on KO. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Coca-Cola in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.60.

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.