bLong Financial LLC Buys New Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

bLong Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 5,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $315,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning increased its position in Coca-Cola by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,852,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,123,000 after acquiring an additional 70,604 shares during the period. LexAurum Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. LexAurum Advisors LLC now owns 5,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 399,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,716,000 after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.5% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 133,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,591,000 after purchasing an additional 9,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.2% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 25,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,845,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.82.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO opened at $68.85 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $63.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.37. The stock has a market cap of $296.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.45, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $57.93 and a 12-month high of $73.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. As a group, research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.