Zuckerman Investment Group LLC Decreases Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Zuckerman Investment Group LLC trimmed its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,638 shares of the company’s stock after selling 196 shares during the quarter. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KO. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on KO. Evercore ISI upped 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, February 12th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,769,334. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at $17,520,662.64. The trade was a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $69.75 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $69.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.36. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.95. The firm has a market cap of $300.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.