The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) is ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s 6th Largest Position

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,345,087 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,120 shares during the quarter. Coca-Cola accounts for approximately 3.5% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $83,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $18,383,000. Balentine LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 92.4% during the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 28,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,048,000 after purchasing an additional 13,685 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 104.9% in the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 116,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,351,000 after buying an additional 59,503 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 87.7% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 18,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after buying an additional 8,499 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 850,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,122,000 after buying an additional 46,541 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $6,403,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $21,933,220.38. This trade represents a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on KO shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $82.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.13.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO opened at $62.76 on Tuesday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $57.93 and a 12-month high of $73.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The company has a market cap of $270.34 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $62.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.45.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. Coca-Cola’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.