Meridian Wealth Management LLC Sells 774 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 40,479 shares of the company’s stock after selling 774 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of KO. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the third quarter worth $35,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, 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 research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $72.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.27, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.53. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. 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 2.82%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $10,327,339.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $24,324,191.46. This represents a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.