RiverFront Investment Group LLC Acquires 17,263 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

RiverFront Investment Group LLC raised its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 122,309 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,263 shares during the quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $7,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth $3,402,151,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,617,400,000 after acquiring an additional 11,569,920 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth approximately $500,192,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,271,885,000 after acquiring an additional 4,013,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,664,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $10,327,339.35. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO opened at $70.36 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $57.93 and a 52 week high of $73.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $67.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $302.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. Equities analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KO. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.