Marino Stram & Associates LLC Reduces Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Marino Stram & Associates LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,113 shares of the company’s stock after selling 193 shares during the period. Coca-Cola makes up about 0.6% of Marino Stram & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Marino Stram & Associates LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,364,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of KO. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 41,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after acquiring an additional 4,527 shares during the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.6% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 10.3% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Cohen Lawrence B boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.8% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.2% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value 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 approximately $26,968,753.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,102,114.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 375,407 shares of company stock valued at $22,795,742 over the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on KO shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.18.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of Coca-Cola stock traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $58.08. 4,421,271 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,722,434. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $51.55 and a 1 year high of $64.99. The company has a market capitalization of $250.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day moving average of $60.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

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

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.