Twin Capital Management Inc. Sells 8,619 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Twin Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 80,366 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,619 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $4,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 57,678,466 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $2,937,315,000. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 10,722,435 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 164.7% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,430,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $868,981,000 after acquiring an additional 8,979,379 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 61.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,764,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $667,373,000 after acquiring an additional 4,095,881 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on KO. Citigroup increased their target price on 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. 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 target price on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.18.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

NYSE KO traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $58.70. The company had a trading volume of 4,925,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,695,520. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $59.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.52. The company has a market capitalization of $253.07 billion, a PE ratio of 23.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 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 twelve month low of $51.55 and a twelve month high of $64.99.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,968,753.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $26,968,753.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $3,138,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 143,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,602,980. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 375,407 shares of company stock valued at $22,795,742 over the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.