Whipplewood Advisors LLC Invests $97,000 in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KO. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 399,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,716,000 after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares during the period. Goldstone Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $228,000. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $216,000. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. now owns 22,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,583,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 409,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,400,000 after acquiring an additional 3,793 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:KO opened at $71.20 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $306.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 3.79 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. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $64.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.53. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

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.