WASHINGTON TRUST Co Purchases 3,773 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,470 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,773 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,972,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 171,246,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,390,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,628,772 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 80,448,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,503,484,000 after buying an additional 1,950,146 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,138,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,501,789,000 after buying an additional 2,464,618 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 103,297.9% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 57,734,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,672,479,000 after buying an additional 57,678,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $2,937,315,000. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total transaction of $15,063,636.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,968,753.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 375,407 shares of company stock worth $22,795,742 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.00.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO traded up $0.10 during trading on Thursday, hitting $61.13. 4,839,551 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,043,032. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.30. The company has a market cap of $263.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.63, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $51.55 and a twelve month high of $64.99.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.68 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.50% and a net margin of 23.42%. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a $0.485 dividend. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.23%.

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.