Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Buys 18,877 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 431,565 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,877 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $26,869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 399,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,716,000 after buying an additional 2,069 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 95.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $701,000 after buying an additional 4,757 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,872,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 947,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,428,000 after buying an additional 54,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,581,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,611,000 after buying an additional 104,323 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. The trade was a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 232,646 shares of company stock worth $16,515,469 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of KO opened at $72.29 on Tuesday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $57.93 and a 52 week high of $73.53. The firm has a market cap of $310.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.52. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted 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. 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 price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of 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 Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

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.