Buffington Mohr McNeal Reduces Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Buffington Mohr McNeal lowered its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,397 shares of the company’s stock after selling 455 shares during the period. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,025,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 12.2% in the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 41,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,354,000 after purchasing an additional 4,527 shares during the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.6% during the third quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 10.3% during the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 61,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,435,000 after acquiring an additional 5,707 shares in the last quarter. Cohen Lawrence B raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.8% during the third quarter. Cohen Lawrence B now owns 40,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,288,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 46,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,738,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on KO. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.18.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE KO traded down $0.05 on Tuesday, hitting $58.09. 4,377,879 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,719,578. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $60.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $250.44 billion, a PE ratio of 23.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $51.55 and a 1-year high of $64.99.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In related news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $3,138,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 143,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,602,980. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $3,138,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at $8,602,980. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total transaction of $3,491,990.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,594,097.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 375,407 shares of company stock valued at $22,795,742. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.