TD Private Client Wealth LLC Boosts Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 79,616 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,828 shares during the quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $4,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 21,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 39,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Diamond Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 10,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $642,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on KO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO opened at $69.63 on Friday. 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 Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $57.93 and a 12-month high of $73.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $66.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $299.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total transaction of $1,806,547.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 52,466 shares in the company, valued at $3,749,745.02. This trade represents a 32.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.