Blair William & Co. IL Decreases Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Blair William & Co. IL trimmed its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,566,028 shares of the company’s stock after selling 73,790 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $97,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 399,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,716,000 after acquiring an additional 2,069 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,810,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,977,000 after purchasing an additional 417,353 shares during the period. Cadence Bank grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 70,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,100,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares during the period. NCP Inc. boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 9.2% during the third quarter. NCP Inc. now owns 3,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 325,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,418,000 after acquiring an additional 16,198 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on KO shares. 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 research report on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group lifted 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. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,769,334. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,324,191.46. This trade represents a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $70.02 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $301.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.35, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.53. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.43. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results 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, sell-side analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase 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.