Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Purchases 64,648 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,560,884 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 64,648 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $150,913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 80,448,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,503,484,000 after buying an additional 1,950,146 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,138,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,501,789,000 after buying an additional 2,464,618 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,913,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,514,234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,664 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 8.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,845,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,446,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,963,963 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 13,804,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $813,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.09.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $3,138,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 143,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,602,980. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total transaction of $15,063,636.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,968,753.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $3,138,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at $8,602,980. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 375,407 shares of company stock valued at $22,795,742 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KO traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $61.75. 19,043,521 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,033,869. The company has a market cap of $266.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.98, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.13. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $51.55 and a twelve month high of $64.69.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.23%.

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.