Meridian Wealth Partners LLC Increases Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Meridian Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,265 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 627 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 399,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,716,000 after buying an additional 2,069 shares during the last quarter. United Bank lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 65.4% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 80,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,813,000 after buying an additional 31,979 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,683,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 370,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,635,000 after buying an additional 31,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 436,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,387,000 after buying an additional 4,691 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $68.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $295.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.76, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $57.93 and a 1 year high of $73.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $67.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.48.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.51 dividend. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,769,334. This trade represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 over the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on KO. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. TD Cowen upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, 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 research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

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.