Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Cuts Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. trimmed its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 27.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 52,329 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,984 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $3,258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at about $241,000. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $492,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 10,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $659,000 after buying an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 138,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,601,000 after buying an additional 3,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abacus Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at about $252,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of KO opened at $71.69 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $308.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.02, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $70.96 and a 200-day moving average of $66.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $60.62 and a 52 week high of $74.38.

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

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Cfra Research upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.59.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at $17,520,662.64. The trade was a 18.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total value of $4,335,629.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 187,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,491,148.92. This represents a 24.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 462,407 shares of company stock worth $32,990,056 in the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.