Level Four Advisory Services LLC Purchases 171 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,336 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $5,687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,402,151,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,617,400,000 after acquiring an additional 11,569,920 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth $500,192,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,271,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,664,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $961,317.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,769,334. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 in the last ninety days. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. Two research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Coca-Cola stock opened at $70.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $304.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.66, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $67.62 and its 200-day moving average is $66.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $57.93 and a 12 month high of $73.53.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.59%.

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.