Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC Makes New $239,000 Investment in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,458,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,818,000 after buying an additional 20,031 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,606,000 after buying an additional 2,684 shares in the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc raised its position in Coca-Cola by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 2,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its position in Coca-Cola by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 120,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,496,000 after purchasing an additional 3,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Enterprise Financial Services Corp raised its position in Coca-Cola by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 10,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The transaction 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 dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. This 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 have sold 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $71.52 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $65.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.56. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market cap of $307.60 billion, a PE ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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 fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. 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. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on KO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.