Sherman Asset Management Inc. Purchases New Shares in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Sherman Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola during the third quarter valued at $35,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Coca-Cola during the third quarter valued at $43,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. MilWealth Group LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

NYSE KO opened at $71.20 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $64.53 and a 200 day moving average of $66.51. The company has a market capitalization of $306.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In related news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 232,646 shares of company stock worth $16,515,469 in the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.