The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Sold by Fiduciary Group LLC

Fiduciary Group LLC lowered its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,356 shares of the company’s stock after selling 261 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $7,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of KO. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 21,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 39,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Diamond Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 10,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $642,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on KO. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.24.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,324,191.46. The trade was a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction of $1,806,547.19. Following the transaction, 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. Insiders sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $69.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $298.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.07, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50-day moving average of $66.69 and a 200-day moving average of $66.53. 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 fifty-two week low of $57.93 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. 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 2.94%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.