Ballew Advisors Inc Acquires New Shares in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Ballew Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KO. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 103,297.9% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 57,734,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,672,479,000 after purchasing an additional 57,678,466 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth about $2,937,315,000. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 79,101,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,031,669,000 after buying an additional 10,722,435 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 164.7% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,430,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $868,981,000 after buying an additional 8,979,379 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 61.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,764,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $667,373,000 after buying an additional 4,095,881 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.2 %

Coca-Cola stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $61.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,680,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,194,525. The company has a 50 day moving average of $60.06 and a 200-day moving average of $58.32. The stock has a market cap of $263.67 billion, a PE ratio of 24.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.13. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $51.55 and a one year high of $64.99.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.01. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.50% and a net margin of 23.42%. The business had revenue of $10.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 78.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,102,114.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,102,114.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $15,063,636.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,968,753.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 375,407 shares of company stock worth $22,795,742 in the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.