Prosperity Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Prosperity Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 16.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,384 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC grew its position in Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Atlas Brown Inc. lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 21,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 39,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Diamond Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 10,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $642,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on KO. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The transaction 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 the firm’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 transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 288,146 shares of company stock valued at $20,456,524. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $71.00 on Wednesday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $57.93 and a 12-month high of $73.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $305.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $65.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.58.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 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%. Equities analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 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.