Bell Bank Purchases 898 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Bell Bank increased its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,103 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 898 shares during the period. Bell Bank’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,680,205,000 after purchasing an additional 11,206,995 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,664,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,964 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,271,885,000 after buying an additional 4,013,996 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.1% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 16,021,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $997,480,000 after buying an additional 351,462 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $71.37 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $63.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $307.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $57.93 and a 52-week high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.82.

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.