Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Has $65.44 Million Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lessened its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,051,076 shares of the company’s stock after selling 61,177 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $65,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 1,696.4% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 678,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,125,000 after purchasing an additional 641,196 shares in the last quarter. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $93,000. Eagle Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 13,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $834,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $121,000. Finally, Westbourne Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $263,000. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $10,327,339.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $24,324,191.46. The trade was a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at $17,520,662.64. The trade was a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. 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. UBS Group increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.59.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $72.56 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.58. 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 stock has a market cap of $312.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.38, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $60.62 and a 12-month high of $74.38.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.60%.

About Coca-Cola

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.