Empire Life Investments Inc. Purchases Shares of 43,459 The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Empire Life Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 43,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,706,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.0% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,852,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,123,000 after buying an additional 70,604 shares during the last quarter. Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Cardinal Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.3% in the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 81,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,915,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.9% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 79,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,680,000 after buying an additional 10,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.7% in the third quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 25,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,802,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.82.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of KO opened at $68.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $296.59 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $57.93 and a 12 month high of $73.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $62.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

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.