The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Purchased by Fiduciary Trust Co

Fiduciary Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 206,100 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,802 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $12,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KO. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 29,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Brown Inc. raised its position in Coca-Cola by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 21,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 166 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 news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $6,391,355.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,287.99. This trade represents a 30.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $961,317.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 sold a total of 402,081 shares of company stock worth $28,654,426 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KO. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Cfra Research raised shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.59.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of KO opened at $71.23 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.64. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $60.62 and a fifty-two week high of $74.38. The company has a market capitalization of $306.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.