Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Raises Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 26.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 720,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 150,000 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $44,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Rahlfs Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth approximately $701,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 106,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,652,000 after acquiring an additional 3,707 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Coca-Cola by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,030,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,187,000 after purchasing an additional 94,103 shares during the period. Aviva PLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 2,950,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,714,000 after purchasing an additional 27,454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 51,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,229,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $24,324,191.46. This trade represents a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. 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 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 4.5 %

Shares of KO stock opened at $69.87 on Friday. 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 Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $57.93 and a 12 month high of $73.95. The stock has a market cap of $300.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.45.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. On average, research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on KO. TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.24.

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.