Forte Capital LLC ADV Lowers Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Forte Capital LLC ADV trimmed its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 16.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,463 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,256 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $402,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after acquiring an additional 11,206,995 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,664,005,000 after buying an additional 2,966,964 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after buying an additional 4,013,996 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,984,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,990,407,000 after buying an additional 1,609,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 16,021,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $997,480,000 after buying an additional 351,462 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on KO shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.82.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.9 %

KO opened at $71.37 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $307.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $63.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.44. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 78.54%.

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.