Hughes Financial Services LLC Invests $397,000 in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $397,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after acquiring an additional 11,206,995 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,664,005,000 after buying an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,617,400,000 after buying an additional 11,569,920 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,271,885,000 after buying an additional 4,013,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,984,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,990,407,000 after buying an additional 1,609,565 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total value of $1,806,547.19. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 52,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,749,745.02. This trade represents a 32.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Coca-Cola stock opened at $69.59 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $299.29 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.63.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

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.