Stonebridge Capital Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Stonebridge Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 89,026 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,025 shares during the quarter. Coca-Cola accounts for approximately 2.3% of Stonebridge Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Stonebridge Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $5,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after purchasing an additional 11,206,995 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,701,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,463,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084,475 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of 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. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 6.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,984,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,990,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,609,565 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on KO. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.60.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $61.71 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $62.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $265.83 billion, a PE ratio of 25.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $57.93 and a 1 year high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,933,220.38. This trade represents a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.