The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Acquired by Aire Advisors LLC

Aire Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 17,875 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares during the quarter. Aire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. MilWealth Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 43.7% in the fourth quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 691 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:KO opened at $68.97 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $57.93 and a 1 year high of $73.53. The stock has a market cap of $296.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.42.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 82.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $10,327,339.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $24,324,191.46. The trade was a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Coca-Cola 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.