Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Boosts Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,779,591 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,667 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $104,871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 41,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,354,000 after acquiring an additional 4,527 shares in the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC increased 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. Finally, Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 46,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,738,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on KO shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.27.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:KO traded up $0.18 on Friday, reaching $62.18. The stock had a trading volume of 11,627,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,021,238. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $51.55 and a 12-month high of $64.25. The stock has a market cap of $268.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $60.22 and a 200 day moving average of $59.06.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $11.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 77.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The transaction 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 the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 323,107 shares of company stock valued at $19,657,742 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.