Peddock Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 443 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Peddock Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,837 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 443 shares during the quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KO. Northern Financial Advisors Inc boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 19,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after buying an additional 1,496 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 25,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,481,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 107,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,352,000 after buying an additional 18,955 shares in the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at $670,000. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 303,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,869,000 after acquiring an additional 3,227 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:KO traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $62.74. 4,358,071 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,808,288. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.32 and a 200 day moving average of $59.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.04. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $51.55 and a twelve month high of $64.25. The company has a market capitalization of $270.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $1,102,114.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 380,405 shares of company stock valued at $23,209,645 over the last ninety days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by 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.