Cape Investment Advisory Inc. Cuts Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Cape Investment Advisory Inc. cut its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,714 shares of the company’s stock after selling 724 shares during the quarter. Coca-Cola makes up about 1.1% of Cape Investment Advisory Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Cape Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,722,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hickory Point Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $650,000. PCG Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at $304,000. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 235,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,675,000 after acquiring an additional 6,162 shares during the period. Sherman Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth $214,000. Finally, Onefund LLC lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Onefund LLC now owns 10,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $653,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on KO. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of KO opened at $71.20 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $57.93 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53. The company has a market capitalization of $306.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50-day moving average is $64.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.51. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,324,191.46. This trade represents a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 232,646 shares of company stock worth $16,515,469 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Company Profile

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.