Westpac Banking Corp Purchases 104,145 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Westpac Banking Corp lifted its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 105.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 202,857 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 104,145 shares during the quarter. Coca-Cola comprises approximately 0.8% of Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $12,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rice Partnership LLC boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 102,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,397,000 after purchasing an additional 6,793 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 87.7% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 18,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 8,499 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,271,885,000 after acquiring an additional 4,013,996 shares during the last quarter. Clark & Stuart Inc bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,582,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 222.9% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 192,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,814,000 after purchasing an additional 132,701 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on KO. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total value of $1,806,547.19. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 52,466 shares in the company, valued at $3,749,745.02. The trade was a 32.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 over the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $71.46 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $68.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.42. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $57.93 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The company has a market cap of $307.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.93, a P/E/G 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.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

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.