Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Trims Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 147,978 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,680 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $9,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. MilWealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on KO shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.82.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 94,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 have sold a total of 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $70.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $305.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50-day moving average is $64.36 and its 200 day moving average is $66.50. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid 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 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

About Coca-Cola

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.