Searle & CO. Grows Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Searle & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 41.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,717 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,742 shares during the period. Searle & CO.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KO. RB Capital Management LLC raised its position in Coca-Cola by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 50,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,965,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 43,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,551,000 after purchasing an additional 10,954 shares during the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 33,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,000 after buying an additional 587 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 61,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,623,000 after buying an additional 925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $744,000 after buying an additional 1,495 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO traded up $0.16 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $61.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,725,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,085,787. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $266.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average of $60.19 and a 200-day moving average of $59.02. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $51.55 and a 12 month high of $64.25.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.50% and a net margin of 23.42%. The firm had revenue of $11.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. Coca-Cola’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. 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 3.13%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 78.23%.

Insider Activity

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total transaction of $15,063,636.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,968,753.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 323,107 shares of company stock worth $19,657,742 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KO shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.18.

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.