Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 9,297 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 72,491 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,297 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $4,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KO. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 5,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $573,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, John G Ullman & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 8,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.27.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO stock traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $62.17. 11,628,675 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,782,690. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $51.55 and a 12-month high of $64.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $268.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.06.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.74% and a net margin of 23.41%. The firm had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.60%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of Coca-Cola 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 approximately $26,968,753.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $15,063,636.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,102,114.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 323,107 shares of company stock valued at $19,657,742. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.