The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Purchased by Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.

Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 741.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 45,998 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,530 shares during the period. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 0.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 399,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,716,000 after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares during the period. United Bank lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 65.4% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 80,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,813,000 after purchasing an additional 31,979 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 40.2% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 13,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $998,000 after purchasing an additional 3,987 shares during the period. Schear Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 7,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 42.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 6,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $499,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on KO shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded 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 Wednesday, January 8th. Two 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.com, Coca-Cola has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $961,317.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,769,334. This trade represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the firm’s 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 over the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE KO opened at $69.16 on Monday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The company has a market capitalization of $297.47 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.54.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted 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 net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.