QRG Capital Management Inc. Sells 5,461 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

QRG Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 369,805 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,461 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $23,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 13.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,680,205,000 after buying an additional 11,206,995 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,664,005,000 after buying an additional 2,966,964 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after buying an additional 4,013,996 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 6.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,984,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,990,407,000 after buying an additional 1,609,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in 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. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:KO opened at $70.80 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $64.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.47. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $57.93 and a 52 week high of $73.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market cap of $304.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.67, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on KO. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.82.

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.