Challenger Wealth Management Acquires New Shares in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Challenger Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 11,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $685,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Hoey Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 41.9% during the fourth quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MilWealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of KO stock opened at $71.81 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $60.62 and a fifty-two week high of $74.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $309.09 billion, a PE ratio of 29.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.00.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. Coca-Cola’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total value of $4,335,629.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 187,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,491,148.92. The trade was a 24.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 462,407 shares of company stock valued at $32,990,056 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.81.

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.