Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,089,351 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 52,550 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $130,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KO. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth approximately $241,000. X Square Capital LLC grew 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 valued at $1,937,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 44,783.4% in the fourth 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 period. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 73,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,597,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 44,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,766,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $70.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $304.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.66, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.46. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, 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. Two investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

Insider Activity

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,324,191.46. This represents a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 55,500 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $3,941,055.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,533,008.09. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola 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.