Palisade Asset Management LLC Acquires 3,208 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Palisade Asset Management LLC lifted its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,265 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,208 shares during the quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,844,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 5,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $639,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC grew its position in Coca-Cola by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $573,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, John G Ullman & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 8,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup upped 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. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was 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 available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 380,405 shares of company stock worth $23,209,645. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.4 %

KO traded up $0.23 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $62.85. 10,268,773 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,829,980. The stock has a market cap of $270.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.07, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50 day moving average is $60.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.30. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $51.55 and a fifty-two week high of $64.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.01 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.41% and a return on equity of 42.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

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.