Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. Increases Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,488 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,414 shares during the quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $963,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 over the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.5 %

KO opened at $70.36 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $302.80 billion, a PE ratio of 28.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.38. 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 Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $57.93 and a 52 week high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 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%. Analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on KO shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola 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.