Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC Buys 259 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lifted its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,442 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. MilWealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,769,334. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $10,327,339.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,324,191.46. This trade represents a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 232,646 shares of company stock worth $16,515,469 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the subject of several analyst reports. DZ Bank upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $71.20 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $57.93 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market cap of $306.22 billion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.53.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

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.