The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Sold by Delta Financial Advisors LLC

Delta Financial Advisors LLC lessened its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 12.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,654 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,839 shares during the quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KO. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 103,297.9% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 57,734,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,672,479,000 after purchasing an additional 57,678,466 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $2,937,315,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 79,101,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,031,669,000 after acquiring an additional 10,722,435 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 164.7% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,430,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $868,981,000 after acquiring an additional 8,979,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 61.4% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,764,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $667,373,000 after acquiring an additional 4,095,881 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.18.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $26,968,753.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total transaction of $15,063,636.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,968,753.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $3,138,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,602,980. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 375,407 shares of company stock worth $22,795,742. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO traded up $0.25 during trading on Thursday, hitting $58.76. 4,011,250 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,683,303. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $59.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.52. The company has a market cap of $253.33 billion, a PE ratio of 23.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $51.55 and a 12-month high of $64.99.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.80 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 78.23%.

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.