Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 346,220 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. cut its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,515,349 shares of the company’s stock after selling 346,220 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.45% of Coca-Cola worth $1,214,532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 41.9% during the fourth quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,769,334. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KO. Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cfra Research upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. DZ Bank raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.59.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO opened at $71.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $308.52 billion, a PE ratio of 29.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s 50-day moving average is $70.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.56. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $60.62 and a 1 year high of $74.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. Coca-Cola’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.60%.

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.