Orion Capital Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Hoey Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.2%

KO stock opened at $71.84 on Thursday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $60.62 and a 52 week high of $74.38. The company has a market capitalization of $309.23 billion, a PE ratio of 29.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.89. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $6,391,355.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 205,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,815,287.99. This represents a 30.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 462,407 shares of company stock worth $32,990,056 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. DZ Bank upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.59.

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.