Sandhill Capital Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Sandhill Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,510 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the quarter. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $4,514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,664,005,000 after acquiring an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,617,400,000 after purchasing an additional 11,569,920 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,402,151,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,123,301,000 after purchasing an additional 6,118,819 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,566,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,529,537,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791,300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $68.22 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.36. The stock has a market cap of $293.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $57.93 and a fifty-two week high of $73.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.51 dividend. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.59%.

Insider Activity

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total value of $1,806,547.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 52,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,749,745.02. This trade represents a 32.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Company 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.