Wambolt & Associates LLC Trims Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Wambolt & Associates LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 25.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,556 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,231 shares during the quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $221,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 13.7% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,664,005,000 after buying an additional 2,966,964 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,617,400,000 after acquiring an additional 11,569,920 shares during the period. 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 period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,609,565 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:KO opened at $68.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $296.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.53. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.40.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the company’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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

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.