Kentucky Trust Co Takes Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 26,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,642,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after acquiring an additional 11,206,995 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,664,005,000 after acquiring an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after acquiring an additional 4,013,996 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,984,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,990,407,000 after acquiring an additional 1,609,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 11,959,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $744,600,000 after acquiring an additional 166,199 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on KO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays cut their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.19.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO opened at $67.61 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $291.27 billion, a PE ratio of 27.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $57.93 and a twelve month high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. On average, analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.