Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Lowers Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC trimmed its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 98.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 34,446 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,444,041 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KO. FMR LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 11,206,995 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the third 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 lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,984,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,990,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,609,565 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 11,959,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $744,600,000 after purchasing an additional 166,199 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of KO opened at $68.73 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $296.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $57.93 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on KO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.41.

Coca-Cola Company 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.