Inspire Advisors LLC Makes New $1.24 Million Investment in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 19,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,236,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. increased its position in Coca-Cola by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 21,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,309,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO increased its position in Coca-Cola by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 39,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,440,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Diamond Partners LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 10,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $642,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $961,317.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,769,334. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 232,646 shares of company stock worth $16,515,469 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of KO stock opened at $71.47 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market cap of $307.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.57. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $57.93 and a 1 year high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. On average, research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

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.