Jensen Investment Management Inc. Sells 870 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Jensen Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 125,358 shares of the company’s stock after selling 870 shares during the quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $7,805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $158,000. Signature Wealth Management Group grew its position in Coca-Cola by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group now owns 16,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,008,000 after acquiring an additional 787 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its position in Coca-Cola by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 110,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,905,000 after acquiring an additional 20,578 shares in the last quarter. GWN Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $2,452,000. Finally, Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC grew its position in Coca-Cola by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 245,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,292,000 after acquiring an additional 2,128 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,769,334. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO opened at $69.16 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $297.47 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.59%.

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.