The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Sold by Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,311 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,057 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KO. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 0.5% during 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 in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,810,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,977,000 after acquiring an additional 417,353 shares in the last quarter. Cadence Bank boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 70,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,100,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares during the period. NCP Inc. grew its position in Coca-Cola by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. NCP Inc. now owns 3,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 5.2% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 325,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,418,000 after purchasing an additional 16,198 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of KO opened at $70.02 on Thursday. 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 Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The stock has a market cap of $301.32 billion, a PE ratio of 28.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $67.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.43.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 2.91%. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. This 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 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 in the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is 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.