Federated Hermes Inc. Grows Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,159,160 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 473,737 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $245,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KO. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 103,297.9% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 57,734,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,672,479,000 after acquiring an additional 57,678,466 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at $2,937,315,000. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 79,101,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,031,669,000 after purchasing an additional 10,722,435 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 164.7% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,430,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $868,981,000 after buying an additional 8,979,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 61.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,764,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,373,000 after buying an additional 4,095,881 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $58.79. The stock had a trading volume of 3,459,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,674,998. The company has a market cap of $253.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.59. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $59.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $51.55 and a 1 year high of $64.99.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.68 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 42.50%. Coca-Cola’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.485 dividend. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on KO shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total value of $3,491,990.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,594,097.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total value of $3,491,990.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,594,097.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,102,114.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 375,407 shares of company stock worth $22,795,742. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Company 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.