Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $13.87 Million in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 235,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,866,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 12.2% in the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 41,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after purchasing an additional 4,527 shares during the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.6% during the third quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 10.3% during the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 61,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,435,000 after acquiring an additional 5,707 shares in the last quarter. Cohen Lawrence B lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.8% during the third quarter. Cohen Lawrence B now owns 40,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,288,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 46,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,738,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.18.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 1.3 %

KO traded down $0.77 on Friday, hitting $58.28. The company had a trading volume of 12,250,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,355,380. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $51.55 and a 52-week high of $64.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $251.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.59.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.01. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 42.50%. The business had revenue of $10.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,102,114.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $15,063,636.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 375,407 shares of company stock valued at $22,795,742. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.