The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Sold by Tower Bridge Advisors

Tower Bridge Advisors lessened its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 159,114 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,843 shares during the quarter. Coca-Cola comprises approximately 1.1% of Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $9,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted 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. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen raised 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 Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $961,317.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,769,334. This trade represents a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 232,646 shares of company stock worth $16,515,469 over the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $71.20 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $64.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.53. The company has a market capitalization of $306.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued 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%. Analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 82.59%.

About Coca-Cola

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.