The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Sold by Simmons Bank

Simmons Bank reduced its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 120,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,783 shares during the period. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $7,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KO. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 51,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,214,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 8,644,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $538,233,000 after buying an additional 1,027,823 shares during the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 33,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,103,000 after buying an additional 2,142 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 29,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,867,000 after buying an additional 1,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 4,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.3 %

Coca-Cola stock opened at $71.54 on Wednesday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $57.93 and a 12-month high of $73.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $308.16 billion, a PE ratio of 28.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on KO. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.82.

Insider Activity

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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.