The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Sold by Simplicity Wealth LLC

Simplicity Wealth LLC decreased its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 85.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,600 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,887 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc raised its position in Coca-Cola by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 2,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 120,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,496,000 after acquiring an additional 3,607 shares in the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 10,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 142,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,894,000 after acquiring an additional 2,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M. Kulyk & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 27,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,708,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $71.47 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $65.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.57. The stock has a market cap of $307.39 billion, a PE ratio of 28.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $57.93 and a 1 year high of $73.53. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 82.59%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,520,662.64. The trade was a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,324,191.46. This represents a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469 over the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by 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.