The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Stake Cut by Sfmg LLC

Sfmg LLC reduced its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 20.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,005 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,910 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 103,297.9% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 57,734,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,672,479,000 after purchasing an additional 57,678,466 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth about $2,937,315,000. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 79,101,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,031,669,000 after purchasing an additional 10,722,435 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 164.7% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,430,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $868,981,000 after purchasing an additional 8,979,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 61.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,764,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $667,373,000 after purchasing an additional 4,095,881 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KO shares. Citigroup raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on 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 owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on 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 owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,602,980. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 375,407 shares of company stock worth $22,795,742. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of Coca-Cola stock traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $58.06. 11,236,839 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,953,850. 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 firm has a market cap of $250.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.41, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.59. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $51.55 and a 52 week high of $64.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.52.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

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