Vontobel Holding Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,842,056 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 250,680 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $108,552,000 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. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 41,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after buying an additional 4,527 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the period. Wahed Invest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 61,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,435,000 after buying an additional 5,707 shares during the period. Cohen Lawrence B lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cohen Lawrence B now owns 40,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,288,000 after buying an additional 1,111 shares during the period. Finally, Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 46,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,738,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on KO shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.18.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of Coca-Cola stock traded down $0.77 during trading on Friday, reaching $58.28. 12,250,949 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,355,380. The company has a market capitalization of $251.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.47. 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 Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $51.55 and a 52-week high of $64.99.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.68 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.50% and a net margin of 23.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.485 dividend. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.23%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $3,138,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 143,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,602,980. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total transaction of $3,491,990.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,594,097.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $3,138,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 143,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,602,980. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 375,407 shares of company stock valued at $22,795,742. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.