Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Cuts Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,551,161 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,388 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $91,410,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. KFG Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 107.9% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 90,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,067,000 after acquiring an additional 46,980 shares during the last quarter. Ballast Inc. boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 14,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 122,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,835,000 after acquiring an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,441,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on KO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Barclays raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.22.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

NYSE:KO opened at $61.74 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $51.55 and a twelve month high of $64.69. The company has a market cap of $266.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.01. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.50% and a net margin of 23.42%. The business had revenue of $10.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.23%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total transaction of $3,491,990.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $13,594,097.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total value of $3,491,990.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,594,097.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 375,407 shares of company stock worth $22,795,742. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Coca-Cola

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.