Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Buys 23,955 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 253,404 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,955 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $15,777,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,172,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $197,493,000 after acquiring an additional 269,491 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,089,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,083,000 after purchasing an additional 52,550 shares in the last quarter. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $241,000. X Square Capital LLC raised its position in Coca-Cola by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. X Square Capital LLC now owns 31,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,937,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in Coca-Cola by 44,783.4% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 221,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,777,000 after purchasing an additional 220,782 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on KO. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. TD Cowen upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total value of $1,806,547.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 52,466 shares in the company, valued at $3,749,745.02. The trade was a 32.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 over the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $70.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $304.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50-day moving average is $67.62 and its 200 day moving average is $66.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $57.93 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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 year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

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.