Nordea Investment Management AB Decreases Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Nordea Investment Management AB decreased its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,263,458 shares of the company’s stock after selling 538,445 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $450,988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KO. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter worth $27,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the third quarter worth $35,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Mount Lucas Management LP acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.50.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO stock opened at $61.75 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $63.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.58. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $57.93 and a 12-month high of $73.53. The company has a market capitalization of $266.01 billion, a PE ratio of 25.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.61. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.