The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Purchased by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 84.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,007,300 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 460,453 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $64,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 65.0% during the 1st quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Cfra restated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Barclays raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.07.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO opened at $71.01 on Thursday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $51.55 and a 52 week high of $73.53. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $305.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.60.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. The firm had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. Coca-Cola’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 77.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,883,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,280,050. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.96, for a total transaction of $1,253,987.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,507,516.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total value of $553,722,575.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,883,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,742,280,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 974,715 shares of company stock valued at $579,704,927 in the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.