Viking Fund Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Viking Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 20.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 120,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $7,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CCM Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola in the 3rd quarter worth about $275,000. Clarity Financial LLC bought a new stake in CocaCola during the 3rd quarter valued at about $201,000. Castleview Partners LLC raised its holdings in CocaCola by 13.1% in the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 4,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its holdings in CocaCola by 1.7% in the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 27,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,861,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 3.0% in the third quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 174,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,550,000 after buying an additional 5,069 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on KO shares. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on CocaCola from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of CocaCola in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on CocaCola from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fifteen have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CocaCola currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $79.08.

CocaCola Price Performance

NYSE KO opened at $70.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $301.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.39. CocaCola Company has a 1-year low of $60.62 and a 1-year high of $74.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $70.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.45.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 27th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter. CocaCola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 27.34%.The company had revenue of $11.40 billion during the quarter. On average, equities analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio is 67.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CocaCola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 31,625 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.17, for a total value of $2,250,751.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,894,396.10. This trade represents a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Henrique Braun sold 40,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $2,864,862.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 62,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,441,707.53. The trade was a 39.21% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 225,252 shares of company stock valued at $15,953,007 in the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CocaCola Profile

The Coca‑Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a global beverage manufacturer, marketer and distributor best known for its flagship Coca‑Cola soda. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company develops and sells concentrates, syrups and finished beverages across a broad portfolio of brands. Its product range spans sparkling soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready‑to‑drink teas and coffees, and other still beverages, marketed under both global and regional brand names.

Coca‑Cola’s brand portfolio includes widely recognized names such as Coca‑Cola, Diet Coke, Coca‑Cola Zero Sugar, Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid, Powerade and Dasani, and in recent years the company has expanded into the coffee and premium beverage categories through acquisitions such as Costa Coffee.